When Your Adult Child "Gets It"

Josh came over for dinner Monday night, and - I'm telling you - he had some of the most delightful things to say. That is, I found great joy in *almost* hearing him say, "Mom, you were right all along!"
It went a little like this:
While talking about his roommate's cleaning habits, "I don't think he has ever emptied the trash. Sometimes I think I just won't do it, because eventually he has to see that it needs to be done. But he doesn't! Mom, I think I feel like you have felt."
Regarding cleaning the kitchen, "He doesn't even wipe the counter. Ever. I scrub the dishes, but he just leaves food all over them. I'm the only one who cares!"
And as I'm listening, I'm thinking, Yes, son. I know exactly how you're feeling. Exactly. And can I just say? What goes around comes around...
Those observations made me chuckle to myself, but it was his final adulting-is-hard comment which made me laugh out loud. Josh was telling us about an opportunity he might have in the coming year to go on a fishing trip, but which would cost upward of $200 for an airplane ticket. And while he was sharing his story - actually all through dinner - Cleo was making lots of noise by dropping her ball on the floor.
Thud.
Over and over and over.
Thud.
Matthew, who has been working lots of hours, saving his money (and happily updating his computer with those savings) asked with a sense of disbelief, "What? Why can't you come up with $200?"
With equal disbelief Josh looked at his you-have-no-idea-what-it's-like-to-do-this-adulting-thing brother and said, "Do you hear that ball dropping? That's why I can't save up $200."
And I just burst out laughing.
You see, my husband used to mock his dad's infamous statement, "You can't have nice things when you have kids!" But sometime in the past 23 years - between the simple cost of having kids, and the amount of damage those darlings do to household items - Brian has come to understand why his dad lamented as he did. In fact, more than once I have heard Brian make the same claim. So I couldn't help but display my amusement when I witnessed the baton being passed to the next generation.
Ahhh, Josh loves his pup. But he's facing the reality that loving and caring for another living being has a literal cost. (And I love seeing the sacrifice he's willing to make for his sweet companion.)
But I also have to laugh, because there is a real sense of satisfaction in seeing your adult child finally understanding the things you've been saying and feeling for years!