Warning: Excessive Sappiness Ahead

It started happening a few years ago. Every once in a while, I see a fleeting glimpse of the future. I don't know if all parents experience this, but for me, these moments are both magical and melancholy. It can be a glance, a gesture, or a decision. Whatever the sign, I momentarily get a peek at the type of adult my child will become. Usually these moments are brief and subtle, missed, I'm sure, if not fully mentally present. Other times, they slap me in the face. Last weekend the vision I saw was of the latter variety.

We were having dinner together in the dining room (probably because the kitchen table was covered in kid crap). Chris had made Cosmos for us and Katie had just made lemonade for the kids. The hutch in which we keep our barware stands in the dining room, and Katie asked if they could drink their lemonade in "fancy glasses" too. Both girls understand how alcohol works, and they have seen tipsy adults. What followed was one of those classic moments of adolescence in which teens play the adolescent version of "dress up."

As if the martini glasses themselves were infused with vodka, the girls immediately started posturing. They discovered just how precarious martini glasses can be (Who thought this was a good design for drunk people to negotiate?), accidentally sloshed lemonade on the table, and eventually devolved into fits of giggling. Real giggling. Time stopped for a moment as I took in the scene. Jump cut to 2024.  I saw my girls, now 22 and 24, meeting for drinks and not hating each other.

If you thought that was the sappy part, you're wrong... (Mom - You may want tissues for this part.)

Over the last two weeks I've been lucky enough to spend some quality time with two of my three siblings. (Adam - You're up when I visit in June.) I went to L.A. to visit Jay and Kate and my beautiful new nephew, Reid. Even amidst the chaos of working their way through the first few months of parenthood, there were a few times when we just chilled over dinner, drinks or coffee. A week later, Court came out to visit (mostly to see the kids, I realize :) ), and we grabbed a leisurely lunch during which she graciously listened to my problems. In those moments I really wanted to say, "I'm really glad we can have this kind of relationship," but that would have been just too weird; however, life is very short, so here it is:

To Adam, Jay and Court: I'm really glad we can just hang out and enjoy each other's company. I hope my kids will find a similar ease with each other after the sibling rivalry and adolescent angst recedes into the distance.

To Katie, Abby and Zach: While I do hope you can all, sometime in the future, enjoy a few drinks together and commiserate over how annoying daddy and I can be, please remember the following:

1.  Don't overdo it with the booze.

2.  Don't steal our good stuff...You'll have nothing to "graduate" to when you grow up and get some money.

3.  Know when to call a cab.

4.  Daddy and I tried very hard to be the best parents we could be.

5.  We're the best parents you'll ever have.

6.  Nobody's parents are perfect...except me, of course.