Mellowing with age

CC Image
Has anyone else noticed their parents mellowing as they grow older?  Mine were never highly strung or Asian "Tiger" parents, but they definitely let you know when you were in the wrong or were disrespectful or were slouching or sleeping in.

However for the past few years, my parents have entered a different era.  They go on adventures to bee farms in Louisiana or road trips to Colorado.  Or take the random secret trip to Vegas without telling the kids.  Nowadays, my dad is always down for Siri's crazy ideas and plans and is surprising me with the shenanigans that he comes up with.  When we break things / spill / ruin everything like the accident prone people we are, they no longer look up in alarm and with fury in their eyes.  They just go along their business and dismiss our apologies and tell us it's "No Big Deal."

Case in point: today I almost set my parents' kitchen on fire.  I was trying to bake cinnamon raisin bread (that   made with the mixer) and was preheating the oven.  I forgot that my parents oftentimes store things in their oven when it's not in use and a Silpat nonstick baking sheet caught fire in the process.  The kitchen was smoking and a layer of fine white dust covered the entire interior of the oven.  Not only did my Dad NOT freak out but he also helped me clean the oven to where it's almost like brand new.

I don't know about y'all but I'm both a little nervous and a little relieved about these new parents.  And a little part of me also wonders what they did with my real parents.

Comments

  1. That sounds nice. :) My dad mellowed. When I heard him tell me brother, ""You shouldn't yell at your kids" I thought I would faint--then I wondered what had happened to him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. lol, same here. my parents are much more relaxed than they used to be. it's nice, but sometimes scary. they also start to tell me things ten times. and their recollections of past events sound like taken from a novel. it's a weird experience when you realize you become the parent and your mum and dad become the kids...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Strange, isn't it? I wonder why. I was talking about possibly planning for a trip to Jordan in 2014 and not only did my dad not freak out (he would 2-3years ago) but even asked if he could tag along.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh Rooth...that oven thing...I can't even...:P
    Anyhoo, I think my mom is the opposite....go figure. You're lucky!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well I do know parents that are like this but not mine ; ) I think it's opposite which is why I try to do the hosting as much as possible! Though this year my mom was pretty mellow which was probably my best christmas present, haha. Glad you had a great holiday! xo

    ReplyDelete
  6. You are lucky. Mine didn't mellow, they just stopped paying attention {one is mostly deaf} so you have to tell them you actually had the conversation already, though it was apparently one sided.

    ReplyDelete
  7. there are 18 years between me (oldest) and my youngest sibling, and man do they let her do whatever!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I seriously think that parents get like that when they get older. That's why, if there's a large age gap between kids, the younger kid is always raised in a more different way.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lol! I also almost set my parents kitchen on fire once but my parents were not so cool about it ;) Tried to melt some cheese on a piece of bread in the microwave and somehow set the timer to 10 minutes instead of one. Ooops! But since then my parents mellowed out a bit too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My parents have definitely mellowed with age. Now they're actually fun to hang out with, instead of being the disciplinarians they were when my brother and I were growing up. Happy New Year, Ruth!! x

    ReplyDelete
  11. My parents haven't really mellowed, I'm sad to say. Everything is still frantic and a big deal. I envy you your mellowed parents, want to swap?

    ReplyDelete
  12. My parents are also mellow now that they've gotten older. That said, I find myself mellowing as I get older too :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Haha, yeah, I've found that my parents have become more chill with age too~

    ReplyDelete
  14. It's great to hear how common this is! My once anal and perfectionistic dad has even acknowledged that he's mellowed and that little things don't seem to matter like they used to. It's a great thing! I guess that's life. :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Reads