Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Belated Parenting

Thanksgiving is upon us, and I am elbow-deep in dry bread cubes, cranberry loaves, and all the other major characters of this particular holiday.  This is our first Thanksgiving without Theo, and I'm just now realizing that I will have to cook the gravy and mash the potatoes myself.  If I had thought of that sooner, I would have paid for the darn plane ticket, you know?

Theo, in the meantime, will be a guest at one of his fellow cadets' homes for the holiday weekend.  This situation has precipitated a cascade of worries on my part. And, of course, numerous texts to my hapless son:

Remember, you're in the South.  They EXPECT you to say "ma'am" and "sir."


On the drive down, pick up some flowers for his mom.


Offer to help in the kitchen!

How did my eldest reach the age of 20 not having ever been a house guest?  You'd think we would have covered this ground before.


[Miss Manners image: Confessions of a Crafty Housewife]

8 comments:

  1. My son will be in Cleveland with a teammate's extended family. I'm pretty sure he'll mind his manners, but just so they know he comes from a "good" family, I mailed flat-rate boxes full of holiday treats directly to the two homes where he will be.

    Enjoy the holiday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great. You just pointed out to me the things I never taught my son... the very man-cub who is spending Thanksgiving with his girlfriend's family. But then, he never brought ME flowers, so why should her mama get them from him?

    Let's all just eat pie instead.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A houseguest in the SOUTH no less! I hope he does y'all proud, honey.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm so glad that my husband is the one who cooks on Thanksgiving. My contribution will be to keep the kids out of the kitchen. (My job is way easier.)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Still though, to be able to text-nag ones kid from hundreds of miles away . . it truly is the golden age of technology. When my kids are Theo's age, I'll be able to implant myself in their heads with a microchip.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Everyone always thinks my kids are so great when they go their houses. If they only knew how they were at home ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy Thanksgiving.. I am sure he will do you proud!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Knowing your oldest son, I'm sure he did a fantastic job :)

    ReplyDelete