Oh Mama! Oh Baby!

One of the joys of parenting young adults is that, unlike those days just a few years ago when they insisted that you drop them off a block away from the theater or when they asked you to pleeeease not where "that" to the school concert, now they call you out-of-the-blue and ask you to join them for drinks and dinner with their friends and their friends' moms... and even with their friend's baby!

It's wonderful to see Elisabeth so lovingly dote on Tawny's baby -- and I must admit that the prospect of being a grandmother (I'll be "Noni," a combination of my mom, "Omi" and Tom's mom, "Nana") was very appealing last night -- mostly, probably, because I know that she's NOT ready to settle down and nowhere close to it yet. But still, there's something so sweet to her saying, as she holds the baby close,"Mom, he smells so good and this feels so right!"

And it was really wonderful for moms and daughters to interact much like peers, sipping wine, talking about love and relationships, giving and taking advice. I never even pondered this part of parenting during those years when I'd insist that Elisabeth cleaned her room or did her homework or got home before curfew. It's just not something I even knew to even look forward to. And then, before I knew it, it's here -- friendship.

The joys of parenting do continue; they just continue differently.