Leftovers

Here's an often overlooked fact I'm sure many parents would concede: The larger a family grows…and extends…the more Tupperware you need! Yes, there's an easy way to tell when your family dynamic is changing… that has nothing to do with genes and chromosomes… When your family comes to dinner…it's the amount of leftovers they're taking home. When the children are young…any food left uneaten goes into the refrigerator I presume…. where it waits patiently (hopefully not too long) until it is consumed. This system works flawlessly for a long time…that is until the day the children grow up…and it is time for them to move away. Here there is an unspoken rule…a tacit guideline all parents try hard to meet: When our children and grandchildren visit…we offer them more food than they can eat. Which means, when they all come to dinner… once the evening's over and they head out to their cars the leftovers, neatly packaged, will go into their refrigerators…not ours. At our latest family dinner…another grandchild let it be known… he will be moving into an apartment…finally living on his own. Which left Deborah and I smiling…once again aware… that the next time we get together not only will we need to make more food… we'll need more Tupperware.