Grandma’s Ultimatum

Every Sunday night, Caitlin and I video-chat my family living in Utah.   These sessions usually consist of my Mom and Dad, with occasional appearances from my youngest two siblings when the conversation drifts to advantageous subjects (like cell phones or birthday presents).

More often than not, the conversation is dominated by my Dad and me, usually about sports.  This will lead to my Mom and Caitlin systematically rolling their eyes, and continuing their own conversations via text message. (Seriously, this happened once.  Bored with Utah Jazz statistics, Caitlin and my Mom literally texted each other back and forth while on video chat).

As my Dad and I drone on about field goal percentage and player substitutions, my Dad is prompted to remind us all of my Grandma Jaussi’s ultimatum to my Grandpa and his friend:  “August, if all you’re going to do is talk about is sports, I’m going to find something else to do.”

Week after week, Dad and I find some sports niche that occupies half an hour or so, and Caitlin and Mom get headaches from eye-rolling.   Then we’re reminded of Grandma’s Ultimatum, and we’re back on track with family things….until we’re back on sports.

Last night, the table was flipped on us.  Dad had meetings late, so Caitlin and Mom got a head start sharing recipes.  That was a long 20 minutes.  Dad finally came home, but we had already lost our traction. They were on a roll, and there was nothing we could do to stop them.

Finally, Dad and I just said “Look, if all you’re going to talk about are recipes, we’re going to find something else to do.”

Mind you, we don’t mind too bad, because both ladies can cook.  But I think the moral of the story is clear:

Dad’s got to get home earlier than he did last week.

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For more insights on families and how they celebrate their experiences together, check out these blogs:

Family Day

Thanks Mom