Guest post by Andrea R of AtypicaLife dot net

Hi, my name is Andrea and my oldest son is married. Actually, he eloped. That's kind of hard to get used to right now. I've only been able to say it for… lemme think… four days now. And to top it off, I have not yet hit the big 4-0. Aren't I a little young to have married children? What happened anyway?

I guess I'm not really sure. I mean, I knew he had a girlfriend (sweet girl, if slightly crazy like the rest of us) and they were planning on getting married sometime. And to be honest, when they showed up on our doorstep in fancy outfits looking like someone got married, and nobody died as far as we knew, well, it started to dawn on me. Hey, I may be blonde, but even I am not that dense.

I couldn't help it. I looked at my dear sweet boy, my only son I might add, and all I could think of was "Where did the time go?" He's no longer a little boy, he's a man. A college student on the dean's list, a hard worker, a guy who pays his own bills and even does his own laundry. And now he's married. He came in the house, took his shoes off and walked. He didn't run, didn't track mud all over the place and not once did he rub his grubby fingers on the walls. I think his nails were even clean. I think he even ignored the refrigerator.

*sigh*

You know, I tried hard, I did. I tried to raise the kids to be responsible adults with their own minds, to follow their hearts, to do what makes them happy, and darn it all if he didn't go and do just that.

It was really disconcerting.

We're happy, I swear. These are happy tears, really. And the fact that his father and I went and did the same thing means we couldn't complain even if we wanted to. Look at the money we saved! And we didn't even have to travel; they came to us. No rigmarole with a loud party, obnoxious distant relatives, sore feet and tables of food we shouldn't eat too much of, no huge fancy cakes I'd be roped into making.

Anyway, I give them five years. No, not five years for the marriage, silly. Five years for grandchildren. Yes, I did tell them. I mean, I was just putting that out there. Low pressure and all. So they know where I stand and can make plans accordingly. I'm easy that way.

Hey, this mother-in-law stuff is turning out to be pretty decent.

I still want cake though.

Guest post by Andrea R of AtypicaLife dot net