LOL!! And bless his heart for trying to protect your marble! If your 14y.o. DS is that careful, then I have hope of training my 5y.o. DS before that age. You've trained him right so don't feel badly! ;)

What a hoot! And I agree. You done real good with that son of yours. Take a bow! :-)

LOLOL the whole way through! He absorbed your TKO alright!! That's precious!

ROTFLMAO - I'm still laughing. You've done an EXCELLENT job with your son, and he, in turn, is passing those lessons on to his friends. Knowing how often teen boys raid the kitchen, this is really very good.

You have trained your young grasshopper well!

Please Master, tell us how you did it!!LOL

I couldn't even teach my DH NOT TO CUT DIRECTLY ON THE COUNTER in the nine years we had solid surface!

That's a very cute story!!

Hahaha! I'm sending my kids to your house for awhile! Actually, I should send my husband, too! Excellent job!

Thanks for sharing. :)

you ol' meanie! hehehe

that's great! and the mothers of his friends will be impressed when he recognizes it in their kitchens (if they have it). but he will at least be aware of what he is pouring where and / or setting down on their counter tops!

That's priceless. Thanks for sharing. You can be proud to have raised a son who will, no doubt, be supportive if his future wife were to have a kitchen obsession.

I love this; you drove your point across, job well done.
Your son is brilliant for having remembered this; he must be detail oriented,
a good trait to have in life.

The boys seem more impressionable than the girls. My 15 y/o gets mad at his Dad or sister when they put stuff away in the wrong places in the new kitchen. "The can opener CUTS. It belongs in the knife drawer, with the other things that CUT". The strainer is used for pasta. It is in the prep area, not under the bowls in the baking area". I view it as behaviors that will increase their marriage-ability.

A few days after my marble was installed, 9 year old DS asked me if ice cream was acidic. I really appreciated his concern, as well as his interest in the ph of various food substances, but I felt terrible beacuse I want my kitchen to be carefree and casual - I don't want him to worry about actually using the kitchen. So I told him not to worry so much about the acidity so long as he cleaned up afterwards. The next day I could see that he had made smoties for the neighborhood kids and cleaned up everything so nicely!

Too funny... when my boys were teens I'd consider myself lucky if the items they used to make their snacks with friends made it to the sink.

OMG! I am rolling!! You obviously have done a great job teaching your son the do's and don'ts about marble!! He'll make a great husband one day!! :0)

Sharonite,
I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this.
I can just picture the poor kid trying to find the round
little marbles rolling around the counter top... LOL
Mother of teens here too.
~boxerpups

Yes, I guess he's TKO whether he likes it or not!

Before I get too much praise for my parenting--or before someone calls the authorities because my son fears being scalped-- I should mention that he just naturally has that order and neatness gene and I really didn't beat it into him. (I wonder where he gets it from?) To my eyes, he's a total slob, but to be fair I have seen the rooms and homes of other teen boys and the average 14y.o. boy makes my DS seems like Felix Unger!

Great piece of Americana here!

This piece needs to be referenced on the Read Me page so that parents who are concerned about countertops can be apprised ahead of time about what's in store for them.

Too funny! I'm with remodelfla, though. I'm doing cartwheels if stuff makes it into the sink, forget babying of counters. It just doesn't happen here.

Too funny!!

In fact I am sitting in my not yet completed kitchen with my 13yr old DS and he is watching a Bond movie. I read your post and laughed out loud. He wanted to know what I was laughing at - so I read it too him then he came over to read it himself. We are 99% sure of getting marble too so I consider this step one of his training! Thank-you. He wants me to show him etching on the marble samples I have. There is hope yet!!!

We could see this in a sitcom and ROTFL but I think it's kind of sad in reality to make a kitchen that is beautiful but not friend/family friendly.

10KDiamond's house I could live with. Clean up what you mess up. There is no reason not to clean up after yourself. It's to the point that others are worried to use the kitchen for simple everyday things, it's gone too far. Are the kitchen's the new livingroom from yesteryear with plastic on couches etc.

I guess we all have to decide if our wishes will come before others comforts especially those that live in our homes. Though the adults should have the major vote, I think the whole families needs and wants should be taken into account and the best overall decision made for EVERYONE.

I wouldnt draw the conclusion that anyone's wishes have "come before others comforts". Like everything, it's balance. We only have a cute little anecdote to go by here.

I look at it more broadly ... the important lesson kids need to learn about taking care of things. No matter what it's made of, that you need to take care of it ...

I loved this so much that I read it aloud to my husband. :o)

Love it!!! And good for you for teaching you son to take care of things! I hope that my children will take similar care with my carrara.

So funny! Thanks for sharing. I hope that when my kitchen is done my kids will be respectful of it like your DS.

That is a great story, and you obviously are a good teacher!

Just so you know, I am sending to you my boys, aged 14 and 12, for you to whip into shape. When they return to me, I am hopeful that they will actually get that bowl, with the cereal in it, rinsed out and possibly put into the dishwasher before the cereal becomes part of the bowl's design. Also they will discover that peanut butter, jam, and syrup goes on the bread, waffle, or pancake or stays in the jar, but not all over the counter. If it gets on the counter, it gets wiped off. Baby steps, I know, but I'll take them.

While your at it, could you let them know that the large white object next to their bureau is a hamper, and that their dirty clothes go in there--not in a mound on the floor? And that periodically the hamper can be wheeled over to the little door on the wall called the "clothes chute" and they can push their dirty laundry into that chute?

Apparently my voice sounds like the adults in "Charlie Brown" cartoons, and they cannot understand a single thing I've said. Over and over and over and over, ad nauseum.

*sigh* and thank you! ;^)

I suspect similar anecdotes will happen to a lot of you as you complete your remodels. The funny thing is, I don't remember ever sitting down with DS to talk about etching in particular. I did tell him to use the perimeter counters (quartz) for drink pouring and sandwich making. He just said, "ok" and actually thought it was cool that there is now a "beverage, breakfast and snack making zone". I think he absorbed the details of the acids and the etching and the sealing from all the (incessant) discussions DH and I had about the pros and cons of various counter materials options while we were deciding. Kids do listen, even when it seems they are not.

Shelayne, I hear you about the clothing, our kids must be related! it has been one of DS's chores for many years to clear the dinner dishes and fill the DW. He's very particular about it and will even rearrange the dishes in there if they are not properly set up. He's quite the gourmand, has a very sophisticated palate, and knows his way around a kitchen. HOWEVER, as to the issue of the clothing perpetually on the floor, well, I can't help you there! I'm constantly playing the "sniff" test with the trail of clothing I find in his bathroom and room. Is this the "clean" floor pile, or the "dirty" floor pile? Only the nose knows!

Aloha, rather than sad, putting a beautiful slab of marble on the island was a very happy compromise! The rest of the counters are quartz, which is impervious to stains, scratches, etc. And the consensus of the whole family is that the new kitchen is AWESOME. Neither DS nor DH seem at all concerned about the marble top impinging on their "comfort". I did make a point after the exchange yesterday to tell DS that if he or a friend accidentally etched the stone, that I certainly wouldn't hold him responsible or be angry at the friend and I realize the marble will etch at some point, but I refuse to believe that taking a little special care of a rectangle of counter on the island is any sort of burden to a kid in DS's position. Taking care of hard earned, beautiful things because they matter to you or to the people you love, is important too. Then again, some might also find other rules in our house sad and inconsiderate of the family's comfort, for example, we "dress" for dinner (no sweats, no athletic gear, no dirty clothing, because I believe it is disrespectful of the person who prepared dinner with love and care) but oh well! Very rarely has DS been sent back to his room to change into something "less comfortable" for dinner, but it has happened. At some point it's a question of values. Comfort is important but it is not always first.

very cute story! i think it's great your son is respectful of taking care of the kitchen AND can still laugh about "your issues"! :)

it sounds like you are a wonderful mom, and your son sounds like a terrific kid. thanks for sharing.

I agree with Ironcook. You sound like a wonderful mom,Sharonite. The more you write about your family and your values, the more impressed I become. Thanks so much for sharing this warm, funny and inspiring story with us!