Outnumbered but not Outdone

I grew up as a girl. I did girlie things like play with dolls, rollerskate, and jump rope. As a girl brought up in, let's just say a more gender-defined era, I have no sense of adventure. The most rustic I would ever want to be is in a motel that has only a double bed in the room. Therefore, I have come to believe without a doubt that God does indeed have a terrific sense of humor. Why else would he have dropped me into a family where I was the only female except for the dog?

There were lots of challenges trying to bring some civilization to this band of free spirits. All four of our sons were gifted with my husband's quick wit. They delighted in my naivete. I played straight man to their comedy on more occasions than I care to remember.

Particularly interesting were our family meals. We made a conscious effort to eat at least one meal together as a family each day. This was harder as the boys grew older and began taking part in sports and other school activities, but it remained a wonderful opportunity to connect as a family.

Mealtimes were also one of the times when my darling sons and husband practiced their comedy routines with their "Gracie Allen" mother. The goal always appeared to be bringing me to the point of laughing just as I took a sip of milk. They scored when the beverage of the day began dribbling out of my nose. I'm sure that Emily Post would have been horrified by the shenanigans that took place at our dinner table. It was quite often irreverent, messy, and just plain fun.

Family meals and the time before them, when one or the other of the boys would park himself by the kitchen counter and talk to me as I prepared the food, were times I will always cherish. I learned their dreams and fears, I listened to the heartbreak of broken high school relationships, and I heard the concern they shared over friends who did not have positive family lives. I was privileged to see a part of my sons that some mothers never do. That kind of intimacy is golden.

The boys grew up and eventually developed table manners. They have all met beautiful young women. Two of them have married and have given us three gorgeous granddaughters. Do the math - I'm not outnumbered any longer!! When we're all together, we females get our licks in now and again.

Now they are all having family dinners in their own homes. My husband and I are eating dinner alone most evenings. That's not such a bad thing. We still like one another. But when the boys are "home" with us, the fun begins again. They still try to get me snorting a beverage, and sometimes they succeed.

They are the best of friends, not only with each other, but with their parents. Our relationship with our sons has changed. We are still their parents and we still worry about whether they're eating well, getting enough sleep, and all the other things that parents do; but now we see they're beginning to take care of us. The tide is turning. They call us to see how we're doing, to let us know they care and love us.

I doubt greatly that our granddaughters will hear the stories about putting rice between Grandma's toes (use your imagination on that one) until they're raising children of their own. And by then they'll have their own stories to tell about their family dinners.