Bea Lewis

Q: At a recent family gathering, my son mentioned that he never remembered me ever making dinner. I was taken aback because I cooked seven days a week! This was in the days before McDonald’s became popular. Maybe we went out for dinner to a Chinese restaurant once a week or occasionally we went as a family to the local deli. How could he not remember all the wonderful meals I prepared night after night after night?

A: During a discussion on parenting adult children at a meeting of the Villa Borghese Hadassah group, a grandmother of four told the exact same story. She, too, was shocked at the comment. But when she collected herself, she told her daughter not to compare what she does today (she is retired and hardly ever cooks) with her life raising her son and daughter. Her grandchildren, she said, however, think that only her husband (their grandfather) cooks because now that they live in a house with a backyard, he loves to barbeque hot dogs and hamburgers for the grandchildren! Don’t get frazzled by such a remark – just go out and enjoy the early bird specials – and only turn on the oven (grill) when the grandkids come to visit!