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Let's Laugh: Do Kids Ever Grow Up?

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Let's Laugh: Do Kids Ever Grow Up?

By: Caroline Reid

Topics: Let's Laugh - Humor; Family
Posted by caroline Wed Jul 30, 2008 19:13:46 PDT
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0 responses 1 comment

I have news for all of you parents out there. Kids never grow up. Sorry to break it this way but I have first-hand experience.

My son, who is over 40, comes home to roost every once in a while. He works all over the world. He doesn’t sit still very often. But when he decides to sit still, he comes home.

The last time he was here he decided rather than doing nothing other than floating in the pool, he would do some things I needed done. He asked for a list. I jumped at the chance.

Clean out the gutters (they haven’t been cleaned out in about eight years):

He got the hose and a ladder and started in. It rains so little here that they don’t get much chance to do what they are supposed to do. Mine were actually filled with dirt. “Hey mom, throw some grass seed up here. You can have one of those roofs they have in Scandinavian countries.”

I didn’t find him too funny and told him to keep hosing. A lot of dirt came flying out. So did some rocks and pieces of bird nest, bird feathers and some odd looking bunches of bad looking stuff!

When he finished there were piles of dirt that washed out of the gutters. Disgusting looking piles of dirt. Guess who had to clean ‘em up?

2. Paint that old metal chairs in the back yard so I can make it a decorative item and put some flowers in it:

He spray-painted it in my garage (thank God he pulled the car out!). The chair looked great. The garage floor looked like bad modern art. “Is this what you wanted, mom?” (Yes, but I didn’t expect the garage floor to be so weird looking! He apparently didn’t notice the huge stack of nearby drop cloths.) Guess who has concrete paint on the list for her next trip to Home Depot? Guess what will be on HIS list the next time he comes home to roost?

Barbeque some steak for dinner Saturday night: (I never barbeque. I usually just put some chicken on the George Foreman. Good old George!)

So he barbequed. Steak. Lots of steak. Eight people were coming for dinner. He made enough steak for the local fire department (which I thought I would need when he lit the coals!). Afterwards, there were splotches of grease on the pool deck, a dirty meat fork on my favorite patio chair and steak sauce on my brand new roses! Guess who cleaned all that up?

So it’s true, no matter how hard you try to help them grow up and be responsible, when they come home to roost for a few days, they turn into your “kids” again. You cannot tell them anything anymore (if you ever could!). They know how to “do stuff.” Their pattern is set. Part of it is your fault! You raised ‘em after all! You just have to “savor the moment” and clean up afterwards!

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