Posts tagged inlaws

Our Parents Are Old

10

And it’s a little bit freaky. Because they’ll die and then we’re next.

Bryan’s dad turned 59 on Monday and Bryan and I talked all night about how that’s almost 60 and we remember when our parenst were 33 and 34 and weren’t they old? Yeah, but we’re not old, right? Nah! And our kids will be doing this when they’re in their 30s and they’ll talk about us like we’re about to die and that’s not cool! Those kids are mean! Let’s wake them up and beat them, thus proving our youthfulness. They’ll remember that, I bet!

My parents will be 60 in January and April. They’ve never seemed old before, but 60? It seems kind of old. Not because they’re old, but because I’m too young to have parents in their 60s. It’s about me! My parents were 26 when I was born, which is pretty young, so if they’re old, I’m old. It’s only logical.

Speaking of my parents, do you know that I still know the phone numbers to all of the bars in Chesaning, even the ones that are closed now (I’m looking at you Rathskellar and Farmers Inn) and the golf course? And of course Dave’s Bar, which has outlasted them all. I do. Because I used to call them a lot when I was a little girl. (No, not to order stuff, but if you know me in real life, I can see how you would think that). I’m not judging, but I can’t imagine a scenario in which my kids regularly had to call me or my husband at the bar. My parent shame would be unbearable and my wife rage would be, well, extremely unpleasant. Like the kind of unpleasant where you say, “Wow, this gunshot wound is extremely unpleasant.” But I guess if our kids had to call us at the bar, they would just call our cell phones and it wouldn’t suddenly hit them in adulthood that they know all of the phone numbers to the bars where they grew up. I guess that means we should go to the bar more often. Then we can forget about all of this oldness nonsense. Problem solved.

Adding to the oldness problem is a little theory that Bryan and I have. We believe that if you had kids before you turned 30, then you have to add the age of your oldest child to your actual calendar age and that gives you your true, social age. So we’re not 33 and 34. We’re 42 and 43, socially. It’s true. When we hang out with real 33 and 34 year olds, we have no idea what we’re doing. None. They talk differently. They drink differently. They care about different things. If they have children at all, they probably only have one so they’re still operating under the illusion that their child is interesting to other people. And it’s awkward when we laugh at them when they tell us their 18 month old is gifted. Because we think they’re joking, but they’re not. And then they think we’re mean, which we are, but that isn’t the point. The point is, we’re way older than everybody our age. And we’re all going to die. And now I have to take pictures again.

Going Away Again

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Guess where I’m going tomorrow. Guess. I’ll give you a hint: I’m not going to West Virginia.

OMG, how did you guess that I’m going to Michigan? You’re so smart.

All the girls are going camping with my inlaws this weekend. They’ll be about two hours away from Chesaning for two nights and then I’ll join them for one night, unless it’s absolutely necessary that I join them sooner. I don’t think Maya has spent more than one night away from me at a time, but I’m not really worried about her. She digs my inlaws (and my inlaws’ food) and I know that if she’s having issues, they’ll call me. We used to camp with them for a weekend every summer when we lived in Michigan, but this will be the first time it’s happened since we moved to Columbus. Excitement abounds. I told my inlaws to just tell me when they want them, and I’d be sure to drive them up there. They requested this weekend, which turns out to be very convenient for me because my cousin is getting married Saturday. Wasn’t it lovely of her to plan her wedding around when we would be up in Michigan anyway? She’s always been sweet like that. I think I’ll put another $3-5 in her gift card just to show my appreciation.

So I’ll be packing today. I did my laundry and grocery shopping and baking yesterday. Baking? Yes, baking. My father-in-law needs to be compensated with chocolate chip cookies. He’s diabetic, so maybe I shouldn’t bake for him, but when I don’t bake for him, he whines about it. On the other hand, when I do bake for him, he tells me he’s diabetic and he shouldn’t be eating stuff like that. At least, I think that’s what he’s saying. It’s hard to understand him when he’s cramming cookies into his mouth.

Anyway, I’m going away again. I’ll miss you. I’ll be back Tuesday. And I’ll miss you.

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