Tag: Parents

Boomerangers.

A phenomenon worth headlines is that many young people are moving back in with their parents due to the current economic conditions.

These youngsters returning to empty nests are called the Boomerangers. I like that term.

Our son boomeranged after he started making a living on his own on four occasions. We were delighted on all the four. He is now a permanent fixture and I am very happy with that situation.

I however have a peculiar situation in my home and this post is to ask my readers to suggest a term to describe another phenomenon.

My then 92 year old father permanently moved in with me 2+ years ago. What should I call him? My friend who visited last week suggested Prodigal Father. Does not appeal to me though in some ways it is logical. I am looking for a generic term that we can apply to any parent moving in with a child. Who knows, I may become one in my doddering old age.

Senior Citizen Moment.

I subscribe to two weekly magazines, and eleven monthly magazines, all in English and have subscribed to one weekly and two monthly magazines for my father, all in Tamil.

While I can read and write Tamil, I find the Tamil magazines of no interest to me, as they are Tamil Nadu specific and write about matters that are of interest to my father but not to me. The English ones are all of national or international interest and are of interest to both except one which is on Indian Management which my father does not particularly care to read.

Being the dutiful son that I am, all the magazines are given to my father to read first and after he finishes reading them, they come to me for my perusal.

There is one particuar magazine in English, Harmony, which is aimed at Senior Citizens of India.

I have been noticing the past three months that this particular magazine Harmony, does not leave my father’s room for me to read after he has read it. On the last two occasions, I had to retrieve them from the pile of magazines that we keep for recycling purposes after reading.

This time around, I specifically asked him for it, two days after I had given it to him and he promptly produced it for me. He said that he had not given it to me because it was for Senior Citizens!

While I was taken aback, I realized that for him, I will always be a child! Warmed the cockles of my heart, that.

Anu, Ashok, Elly and Sandeep, (strictly in alphabetical order) this cartoon here is specifically for the four of you. Take care and don’t forget.