One of the habits that Barb and I picked up during the COVID-19 pandemic was streaming TV series from Australia. The Aussies seem to enjoy family dramas with a touch of humor, and as long as our Closed Captioning is working, we enjoy them too. It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that our recent pilgrimage to Australia was sparked by all the wonderful Australians who visited our home via Amazon Prime and Netflix.

Our current favorite is Packed to the Rafters, all about a very telegenic Sydney family, the Rafters. Mom Julia and Dad Dave share their home with two of their three adult children, a daughter-in-law, and Jules’s recently widowed dad Ted. Child number three lives in the house next door with his best bud and housemate->girlfriend->fiance->wife. An equal measure of drama and hilarity ensues. We have just finished Season 2, and can’t wait to see where the Rafters go next.

And in a real-life case of life duplicating art, our Raff house is packed now too. And we love it even more than we love the Rafters!

Our daughter and her family (husband, 5-year-old son, 2 1/2-year-old daughter, 15-year-old pooch) are nomads while their home is being remodeled. The first three months were spent with our son-in-law’s parents, and now they are joining us for as long as it takes until their house is livable. How long will that be? If this were an HGTV show, I would say the renovation is in the segment just after the second commercial break–the segment in which the unexpected calamity occurs. They have been there, fixed that, and aced all the subsequent inspections. It (should be) smooth sailing from here on in.

How has it been working out so far? I think we have all made the adjustment quite well. When Barb and I built this house we went easy on the downsizing. There are enough bedrooms and bathrooms for everyone, and room to squeeze in our two other granddaughters, who are campaigning for an all-cousins sleepover.

Everyone is doing a fine job of adjusting to each other’s routines. Cooking dinners is rotated, and we have learned that our dishwasher is capable of cleaning daily loads without going on strike with a complaint of overuse. The refrigerator and pantries are overstocked, but I can usually dig out my lunch fixin’s, even if it takes an extra moment or three.

Nothing could be more satisfying than the extra time we spend with our grandkids. We are amazed at our grandson’s reading skills–and the other night I had a fascinating discussion on number theory with him. With his dad a numbers guy and his mom a math teacher, it is clear that the apple hasn’t…

Our tiny granddaughter has taken the role of family humorist. She never stops singing, playing word games, and laughing, laughing, laughing. I always preached that children didn’t demonstrate their personality until they were 3-year-olds. With the twinkle in her eyes, this one has proven me wrong.

Just like the Rafters of Sydney, we are one big happy family. There is just one feature of Packed to the Rafters we don’t want to emulate. At the end of Season 2, Julia gives birth to a midlife oops–a baby daughter. Barb has promised me, in fact, she has guaranteed me, that a similar surprise pregnancy can’t happen here. In this case, life will not follow art!

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