Perfect Parent Pretense

He Who Must Be Obeyed is still in denial about the roof. I know it is about the $350 stainless steel tarring gun he bought. He probably doesn't even know that is what drives his denial.

The new roof was expensive, but worth it in every way imaginable. Financially, our home insurance went down 17% and that is no small matter. Emotionally, I have quit thinking about black mold creeping through the ceiling in our bedroom and I no longer think I am going to start a fire when I turn on the light switch. I found brown water streaming though the ceiling fixture almost as unnerving as the little blackness I see where crown molding should have been put up 25 years ago.

He still mentions that if only he had retarred the spot that leaked... I really find that annoying.

Fifty years of marriage can get a person down sometimes. We have a married son and family visiting in the city this weekend. Every time we expect grown children, we have a little discussion about not argueing or disrespecting one another while they are with us. One of them told me, I can't recall which one, he hated to hear us argue. Every person wants perfect parents. It simply cannot happen.

Carrying on this facade sometimes works and sometimes it doesn't. One thing leads to another and the perfect parent-farce collapses into an unfortunate scene. I suppose in the grand scheme of things the practice is good for us.