Dad? The Marquis? (Pt.2)

(Continued from March 13, 2010) ...... Fast-forwarding five years from the year that I sold Marquis #1, our middle child was now 18-years-old. He was driving a 12-year-old Ford Taurus and he loved that car. He was always finding excuses to run errands for us, just so that he could drive “his” Taurus.

Well, the end of the line finally came for my son’s Taurus. So, we decided to give him our daughter’s 8-year-old Taurus and she would take over my Impala. I then went out and purchased a ….. YES, another Mercury Grand Marquis!!

When I arrived home with Mercury Grand Marquis #2, all three kids expressed disgust, disdain, and mortification for the car. They simply could not believe that I had actually purchased a second Marquis …… or at least that’s what they said.

To add a little humor and to live up to my reputation as a great teaser, I told my 18-year-old that he would be driving the Marquis and that I would take the Taurus. Needless to say, he expressed that he could not possibly drive the Marquis; his friends would make fun of him; and he would be cast aside by all acquaintances. He begged me to let him keep the Taurus. I reiterated that the Marquis was his to drive. He left the room in total disgust wondering aloud how he would ever be able to live this down with his buddies.

The next day, he came downstairs and asked me for the keys for the Marquis, as he needed to get to the store. I told him that I had been kidding and that I would be driving the Marquis. He would keep the Taurus.


I expected jubilation, happiness, and maybe even a hug. But, what did I get instead? My 18-year-old son told me that he WANTED the Marquis, because, after he thought it over, he realized that it really is a cool car! I reiterated that I had been kidding. He then reiterated that he was serious and that he truly wanted the Marquis.

I asked why he wanted the Marquis, since he had called it a GRANDPA CAR since age 11, if not before. He said that, since I had driven Marquis #1 for a long time, it must have been a great car and that the moniker of GRANDPA CAR certainly did not fit me. In essence, he said that he wanted to drive the car that his dad believed to be cool! He was willing to set his friends straight, as well! Ah yes, maturity was prevailing!

YES! Even though he viewed it as a GRANDPA CAR, he still wanted to drive it, as he realized that his dad believed that it was a good car.

Sometimes, even when you think that you have failed to convince your kids of something, you suddenly learn that you had convinced them long ago and that their resistance to your idea was simply to go with the crowd.

Yes, it’s nice to know that DAD’S opinion had won out over the friends’ opinions and impending jeers!

How about you? Have your kids refused to believe that you were correct on an issue, only to come back later and admit that you were right? If so, let me know!


Paul W. Reeves