PenPenWrites

If there's one thing most of us know (or should), it's that there's one place our advisory counsel should not go: Suggesting to our grown children that they have a baby. Or asking them when. The opening line of such forbidden dialogue would start with, "It's time." I say this because I remember it happening to me (my mother and father thought that was the point of getting married), and I suppose that's why I consider it forbidden territory. It's a personal and private decision and touches on a fiery nexus of sex, money and independence.

Doonesbury now joins me in those ranks. He's always followed along with the concerns of our generation and now there this: His Sunday, August 23 strip has the mom, sitting around the table with son and daughter-in-law, start off with a conversation changer: "So when are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" When asked what elephant, she answers: "The grandchildren that aren't sitting around this table." Things deteriorate from there. But for any of you tempted to make a similar point, check Doonesbury first.