Newlyweds

Having my newly-wedded son and his adorable wife live with us this summer has been an enriching experience for me. If anything, adding her to the family mix has made life easier as she has tempered my son's usual sloppy and carefree ways with a more refined and focused attitude. She is a good influence on him and I think they compliment each other well - he chose wisely.

One of the things that has been most fun for me to observe is those moments in early married life where we attempt to figure each other out and find what our acceptable boundaries are. This morning, as my husband helped them load the truck with furniture to move into their new apartment, I was especially amused by the following exchange: My son and my husband were putting an end table in the pick-up truck. It is one of those tables that has a lamp built right into it, and they stood it up in the truck bed and secured it with a bungee cord. The lampshade was still on the lamp. As my daughter-in-law and I watched from the door we both had the same thought and as my son walked back into the house she said sweetly "Don't you think it might be a good idea to take the shade off the lamp before you drive away?" So sweet, I thought. I remember those days so well! All optimism and joy in the discovery of who we have attached ourselves to for the rest of our lives.

Anyway, I watched silently for the next few minutes as they continued to load things onto the truck until I finally couldn't stand it anymore and headed out to the truck myself, and with all 33 years of experience behind me stated firmly to my husband "You need to take that lampshade off and put it in the truck".

"Good idea" he said and promplty did exactly that.

Ah the glory of youth. Ah the wisdom of middle-age!