Do you remember when you were a young'in, Mom and Daddy would ask you to do something, and the first thing that came to mind was, “I want to go to town. I ain't got time for all this.”

 So what did you do? You did it, that's what.

 That's like if they told you told go rake around the house —that's exactly what you did, right around the house. But now if something was, let's say 10 feet from the side of the house, let's be honest, that's where it stayed, because what did Mom and Dad say, “Rake around the house.”

  Back then we all were Philadelphia lawyers. We did just what we had to do to get away with it — no more ... and no less.

But now the shoe's on the other foot and we can't for the life of us, figure out why our kids these days can't take a little initiative, and just rake a few more feet past the legal limit.

 Why? We didn't?

 Or is it just my two? I highly doubt it.

 That reminds me of the time Momma was picking butter beans. Now I love butter beans, but when it comes to picking them, well, that's another story. Mom was out there picking them, and I was suppose to be out there with her, but I just hadn't made it out there yet. That is till Dad found out, then to put it a nice way, I took off at a full run to the bean field.

But once I got out there, being a typical teenager, I skinned my ignorance one more time. I started pulling beans, leaves, come to think of it, one or two plants. Needless to say, once Momma caught me, it wasn't a happy time in the bean field either. But to be honest it was the last time I ever picked butter beans. I think they finally figured out it wasn't worth the aggravation. Though my rear end was sore for a couple days.

Kids will try you. That's like one time I told one of them to run the vacuum cleaner. She thought she'd be slick.

T here I was in the kitchen, washing dishes, plus trying to come with a column, so I was kinda busy, and if she played her cards right, I'd forget all about it. So what did she do, 'Daddy, I want to ask you something?” and so we sat down and talked for about  45 minutes. About life and school, being married and raising kids, you know just chewing the fat.

 Finally I said “I've got to finish these dishes,” and just as she walked off, that's when I saw it, a little smile crossed her face. “I've got him and he doesn't even know it.” That's when I burst her bubble. Just as she was about to make it to her room, I said, “You've killed about a half hour so far, don't forget about the vacuum.”

 You could almost see the air coming out of her balloon.

 They're all like that. How many times have you told your kids to get their clothes together, so you could wash them. How many times do they grab them up, haul them to the wash room and pile them in the basket, right in front of the washing machine, and just drop them. I mean the machine's empty, there's the soap powder, but for some reason, they just can't make the connection to put them both together and cut it on.

Same goes for the grass. It could be high enough to make you think you are walking through the Amazon jungle, but until you say, “how about cutting the grass,” they forget we even have a lawn mower. And weed eating, well, you didn't say nothing about that.

 They'll do it, but you've might better remind them where it's at — you know the same place it's been for the last 10 years.

Oh, don't get wrong, most of the time, they're not quite that bad. That's like if you ask them to go to town, especially if they just got their license. Before you get the word 'town” out your mouth, they’re half way out the door.

 The thing is, they forgot to ask you what you wanted them to go to town for in the first place. “How about take the trash off and go by the grocery store for me.”  Stop right there ... you know you better write a list, cause let's be honest, they’ll be back, in about an hour — the trash will still be in the back of the truck, and they'll have forgot half of what you told them to get. Naw, I don't need to do that.

And here they come, and there's the trash. Now hold on, before you blow a fuse, you knew you were supposed to write a list, but you said to yourself, “How could they miss seeing those trash bags in the back?” Think about it, back in the day, when it was you going to town, how many times did you pull that trick yourself ?

And now you know why Mom and Daddy laugh every time you tell them, “I ain't believing that young'in did that.” It's simple.  Grandkids are Grandparents REVENGE.