DEAR ABBY: I'm a dad with four kids, three of them grown. When we celebrate my birthday or my wife's, or Father's Day or Mother's Day, I'm the one who always pays. For the most recent Father's Day dinner, the check was $240. My wife and I are still paycheck-to-paycheck people, and at least one of my kids makes five times as much as we do between her and her boyfriend. Am I getting this wrong? -- NOT MADE OF MONEY
DEAR NOT MADE: No, you are not. In some families, the parent, "the head of the family," picks up the check for celebrations. However, once the children become adults, they usually step forward on occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, Mother's Day and Father's Day and treat their parents. Because your children don't seem to have noticed that they are now adults, you should point it out to them. Because of the disparity in your incomes, they should at least offer to treat you and your wife on special occasions.