Over gluten-free waffles, green juice and coffee Misty, Vince and I talked about role models, and how if it weren’t for our friends’ families, we would never have imagined that parents could be nice to one another, and to their children.
So if you have a half-way decent family situation, you should open your home to your children’s friends. You should let them see how you operate.
If I had not seen my friends’ parents, I would have never believed that it was possible to live in a calm, sane, rational, loving environment, and I learned this morning that I’m not the only one.
Misty, too, studied the families of her friends, just like I did.
Vince said that the people he hangs around with now are astounded that he cooks.
He is baffled by this.
I said, “Nobody cooks anymore, let alone buff, single, 32 year-old personal trainers. So that’s why you need to continue to invite people over for waffles.”
(A lame bid to be asked over for waffles again.)
We are all watching each other. That’s why we read blogs, and FaceBook and are entranced by “Reality TV.” I used to love to walk around my neighborhood at night and look into the lit homes that hadn’t closed their curtains yet.
I saw Mr. Ross reading the newspaper. (Nobody read in my house.)
I heard Mrs. Lynn crashing around in her kitchen. (I grew up eating TV dinners.)
My friend Glenn had to come home and practice the piano for an hour every day before he was allowed to go out and shoot baskets in the driveway. (I didn’t take lessons of any kind.)
Joanne Harrigan had a strict curfew on weekends. (My mother always got home way after me on weekends no matter how late I stayed out.)
I took a lot of comfort from these families.
I wanted my friends’ lives.
Everything I learned about being responsible and caring and intellectual, I learned from the parents of my friends.
So if you are sane, and loving, and rational, invite a kid over for waffles. It could change everything.
Inspiration Location 