The unleashed grandparents
Our son adores his grandparents. Unfortunately, he only sees them very rarely. Some of them live far away, which is why he mainly knows them as characters in the series «FaceTime». The others live just a few streets away. Nevertheless, he doesn't see them much more often. There was a time when all generations lived under one roof. The children grew up with their grandparents, who often took on the actual task of raising them. Those were golden times.
Suddenly, our pensioners are no longer sitting at home in their armchairs, but in a camper van in Tasmania.
They ended when the grandparents realised that there was still life for them even after retirement. It's all the fault of those self-help books: «Start again at 60», «The best is yet to come», «The graveyard? No thanks». That opened Pandora's box.
SpongeBob and Peppa Pig
Suddenly, our pensioners are no longer sitting at home in their armchairs, but in a camper van in Tasmania. And the children are left staring at the TV. Literally. Because, of course, television now has to fill the gap left by the adventurous pensioners. So instead of Grandma Erika and Grandpa Heinz, it's Sponge Bob and Peppa Pig.
However, it's not quite as bad for us. For one thing, we don't have a television, and for another, my parents-in-law are always available to help out with babysitting. They just need a good reason. My wife's parents belong to a generation for whom hedonism is not a given, but rather the reward for hard work.
It was enjoyed during holidays and on special occasions: weddings, christenings, funerals. But certainly not just for the sake of it! So when we ask my parents-in-law to look after our son because we want to go to the cinema, they ask: Why? Why do you want to go to the cinema? Cinema – what is that anyway? And so on..
If you want to create understanding for your own hedonism, you must first awaken it in others.
The new magic word
We have therefore got into the habit of disguising our plans as important appointments. The magic word is: official business. Everyone knows that official business is of the utmost urgency and cannot be postponed under any circumstances.
My parents-in-law know this too. And so now not a week goes by without us supposedly visiting various government offices and authorities, renewing documents, sorting out formalities, clarifying legal situations, while at home the grandparents support us.
I have to say, these days I've grown to love our bureaucracy for the first time. But there's one problem. The offices close at five. What do we do if we want to go out in the evening? What could be so important that it has to be done between eight and eleven in the evening, the grandparents want to know.
I can tell you: romantic dinners. Going to the cinema! The theatre! Walks in the balmy twilight! Once I pretended I had a colonoscopy that had been postponed until the evening. But something like that only works once in ten years. By then, my wife and I will have separated.
No. Unfortunately, there is no other way. If you want to create understanding for your own hedonism, you first have to awaken it in others. I have now given my parents-in-law the bestseller «80 is the new 20».
