Only in the MoCo

Montgomery County parents are known for being a bit overprotective and over-involved in every aspect of their child’s life.  At times, this helicopter parenting gets perilously close to sucking the joy out of every childhood activity. Exhibit A: Last Sunday we took Ale & Mireya to the pool.  There was a little boy there, probably about 8, who not only had goggles, but also earplugs AND nose plugs. Plus a rash-guard shirt and water shoes. At an indoor pool. Sigh.

Re: Adulthood memo – please resend

More often than I like, I find myself pouting like a three-year-old and wondering why it is so hard and confusing to be a grown-up. Don’t get me wrong, lots of things about being a grown-up are great (no one telling me not to eat that second giant bowl of ice cream, oh yeah). But many things are intimidating and frustrating: What do I do when my laundry room drain backs up? How do I change a flat tire? Is it cheaper to buy diapers through Amazon subscribe-and-save or should I get a Costco membership? What the hell is escrow? The list goes on and on. To make myself feel better I tell myself that no one else knows what’s going on either, that all of us just sort of bumble through life trying not to majorly screw up.

However. However, my mom is perhaps the one person on the planet who knows how to do everything, or where you can research it. She is never faking it when it comes to Important Adult Knowledge. Which makes me wonder: Is there some sort of Adulthood memo that you get at a certain point? Some official cheat sheet that you can whip out when your kid calls and whines, “Mooooom, I don’t understand my 1099-B form for my taxes!”? If so, I haven’t gotten it yet. And while it’s not crucial yet at this point, I’m getting a bit impatient.