The Owner's Manual

Anal rententive as I am, I have the owner's manual to most (if not all) of the appliances I own in my house. This came in pretty handy a few months ago when the stove on my oven wouldn't work (likely due to my having not used it since my shoulder surgery over a year ago). All that being said, my sister called me this evening to tell me my son's been coughing through the night tonight. I asked her how long this has been going on and if it'd been all weekend. She said she didn't know since my son had spent the weekend with my other sister (the oldest one with three kids). She said she didn't know but that her husband had commented that he (my son) had been coughing for a while and they didn't know what to give him. I told her not to worry and that tomorrow they should ask him how long he'd been coughing and then make a decision on what to do. I laughed at their inexperience with children (they've been married for 14 years but have no kids), reminding her that little people don't come with instructions. I told her that I'd checked when my son was born and that "by God, they came with hats, booties, and a blanket provided by the hospital, but no instructions." It's funny for me, a mom with 10 years experience, to watch a couple (with 14 years experience in marriage) struggle with a child I've [by God's grace] raised to be independent, ponder simple things such as the common cold. It just makes it more clear to me that no matter how many years experience you have in one area (marriage, in their case) doesn't prepare you for your job in another (parenthood, in my case). I pray that if God wills it that I should become a wife again one day, they are there for me [and get as good a laugh] as I'm there for them now.