Help From a Tall, Cheerful Person

I’ve written several posts in the past about my children as adults. The last such post was in January 2022. At that point, I didn’t have much more to say on the subject. And I still don’t have much to add, though it remains a marvel and a blessing to me that my children have grown into such delightful adults.

This was brought home again this summer, when my daughter brought our toddler granddaughter to visit. While she was here, she was able to help us prepare my husband’s rowing shell to sell.

And my satisfaction at having competent and considerate adult children was brought home again this week when our son came to visit.

I’d been saving up tasks that I needed a tall person to help with. (I’m only 5’ 1”.) My husband is tall, but he is not very steady on a ladder any more.

So, the light bulb in our 12-foot ceiling burned out? A task for our son.

The shower curtain rod in the guest bathroom came down? I could do it, but I would need a stepladder, and it is really a two-person job. Another task for our son.

And fortuitously, one of our smoke detector batteries died an hour before we left for the airport to pick up our son. To replace it, I would have to stand on the third rung of the stepladder, and I really prefer a spotter if I go above the second rung. Save it for our son.

So, good son’s first task after walking into our house was to replace the smoke detector. He accomplished that task easily from the second rung of the ladder. Next, he helped me with the shower curtain. Easy-peasy—he didn’t even need the ladder.

I would have let him get a snack next, but he went straight to the garage and brought in our 10-foot ladder, scaled it, and replaced the 12-foot high light bulb.

All three tall-person tasks completed within thirty minutes of his arrival. And he seemed cheerful and eager to help.

None of this surprised me, but it was wonderful to have his support and assistance.

The next task on my list—figuring out why the outlets on our screened porch no longer worked—took until Day 2 of his visit. This assignment didn’t require a tall person, but his reasoning helped to figure out which circuit the outlets were on (nothing is labeled “porch” in the circuit box). Resetting the circuit for the garage got the outlets working again.

And on Day 3, he helped me replace the battery in my car key, which I hadn’t been able to open by myself.

All of this done with ease and good cheer. I wonder what the rest of his visit will bring.

When do you appreciate your adult children?