Being a “parent” again…

September 16, 2008 | Filed Under Lifestyles of the Heartlessly Bitchy, Parenting | No Comments

This past week, I had not only my two adult male children here (plus one girlfriend), but also my 17-year-old nephew on a 4-day stopover (on his way back from Russia, and on to Toronto before heading home).  Add to that mix 2 cats, a roommate and a boyfriend, and it was a FULL house.

The dishwasher went through at least 2 times a day – when I got on the young males’ case to load/unload it. (I’m seriously thinking of adopting my eldest’s girlfriend. She’s smart, funny, slightly evil, and does household chores like cleaning up after herself without being asked.)

And even though the two of them are 20 and 21, I had to go into the bedroom one night at 12:30, kick two of the boys out (the youngest and the nephew were playing computer games on the oldest’s computer) and remind my oldest and his gf that SHE had to work the next day, and HE had school. Really. I think kids DO regress when they move back home.

But as much as I rag on them, I DO enjoy having my spawn around again. It’s been 10 years since I had both of them living with me, however, and it’s taking some getting used to.  I’m not a neat-freak by any stretch, but these guys cause me to hit my “critical mass of mess” orders of magnitude faster than on my own, and that critical mass usually results in a sentence starting with, “Ok.Get your asses in here….”.

And then there is the “interaction” between the two of them - they haven’t lived together in the same house for 4 years.  And it’s like nothing ever changed.

Tonight, the youngest was sound asleep on the couch, snoring, when his brother came in, noticed him there, and decided to “hug” him.  The kind of hug that isn’t borne out of affection, but deliberately meant to annoy. The kind of hug you see 12 and 13-year-olds  giving each other to piss each other off. I’m here to attest to the fact that the effect is the same when they are in their 20’s. ”**** What the fuck!? Piss off!” was the younger spawn’s response. The oldest of course protested that he was just trying to show his brother AFFECTION!  The bf found it terribly amusing. Apparently HE never had that in his repertoire of tricks for bugging his younger brother.

And then there is the sense of humor. The two of them play off each other -they riff each other’s personal lives and TV shows, and joke about turning the cat into a submissive masochist (that’s ANOTHER story). And the oldest does accents. Mostly Scottish, sometimes British or  Australian, but tonight he was cracking us up by suggesting that Keanu Reeve’s poorly delivered lines in the movie “Constantine” would be MUCH better if delivered by Sean Connery, and then repeating those lines in a perfect Sean Connery accent. We all cracked up.

My house is a disaster. We go through 6 litres of milk a week, I’m thinking of taking out shares in Costco, and I’m trying not to lose my sanity with the mess that accumulates. But on the whole, it’s good to have them back. Even if they are adding grey hairs to my head, the laughter that comes with them is worth it.

 

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