September 9, 2012

A man calls his son in London the day before Christmas Eve and says, “I hate to ruin your day, but your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough”.
“Dad, what are you talking about?” the son screams.
“We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer”, the father says. “We’re sick of each other, and I’m sick of talking about this, so you call your sister and tell her”.
Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone.
“Like hell they’re getting divorced”, she shouts, “Let me take care of this”.
She calls her Dad immediately, and screams at her father, “You are not getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing till I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?” and hangs up.

The man hangs up the phone and turns to his wife. “Good news”, he says,
“The kids are coming home for Christmas and they’re paying their own way for a change.”

Some parents will go to great lengths to get their kids home. I heard another great trick. Send a letter to your kid and mention in the letter that there is a check for $500 enclosed. Only, don’t include the check. They will be home in days, maybe even hours. On the other hand, many kids will go to great lengths to avoid going home.

Why is home such a troubled place for so many people? I’m sure it doesn’t have to be that way. I want to explore some of the ways that we make “home” a problem when we don’t need to, and how we can heal the thoughts that make it so. This relates just as much to a kid going to College as it does to coming home for Christmas, or returning from a vacation.

more…