a family dinner

I love family dinners and I'm blessed with a basically functional family.  This evening I had everyone at my house for dinner to celebrate my son and daughter-in-law's 12th Anniversary, my daughter's 40th Birthday and my granddaughter's 11th Birthday.  Although the dinner I cooked wasn't my best ever, the cake was good and so was the conversation. But one of the real highlights of the evening for me was when each of my four grandchildren, separately and together, came into the kitchen to ask how they could help and then proceeded to do everything I asked of them.  At 12, 11, 11 and 9 they are suddenly responsible youths, not little kids anymore, Wow! When did that happen?