Who's the grown-up now?

My mother called me yesterday. She was having a moment. I won't go into details, but it involved my father, boiled-over mushroom soup and a lack of cigarettes. She's quitting smoking and I'm really proud of her efforts, but like all reformed smokers she has those moments where she just needs a cigarette. Since she didn't have one, she called me.

At one point during the conversation, she said, "You're not on your blog today."

Sometimes I forget that my parents read this stuff. That makes me feel a little like I'm 16 again and have to watch what I say, lest their image of me as their sweet, innocent daughter (which I have carefully cultivated over the years) be tarnished.

Heh. I know, you're all laughing right now. So am I.

What is it about our parents that even at 39 we still want to impress them? Look at me, I'm a grown-up.

Pfft. Sometimes my children act more grown up than I do.

Then there are days like yesterday, when that dose of reality hits you full in the face. My mother called me because she needed some kind of ... stabilization, maybe. Some kind of reassurance. She just needed me to say, everything's going to be okay, Mom. And I guess I did.

Holy cow. I am a grown-up.

=) JB