Lemme see… Tax forms… A wee spot of whine… The Mothership, loaded up with TurboTax… Bat ears… Bat ears? Yes, bat ears. What is your tax prep routine and what are your props? The bat ears are not necessarily a tax thing. They come out on other occasions too.

I remember years ago sitting on the floor with forms and papers fanned out in front of me. We had a computer in those days but it definitely didn’t help us do our taxes. I was probably wearing blue jeans. I have not worn blue jeans in years. Skirts, babaaay! Our taxes were simple in those days. The GG and I each went through the process independently and then compared notes before submitting them. I was always annoyed that every single blasted piece of paper was a different size and/or shape! I did not wear bat ears but maybe I should have.

At some point in time, I handed the tax preparation job over to the GG. I was doing treasury work for a lot of non-profit organizations around that time and I was filing form 990 for some of those orgs and if you think your taxes are difficult, just take a look at form 990. I kind of ran out of steam for doing our own taxes. Tax time throughout those years was horribly stressful for me. I couldn’t explain why if I tried.

Things gradually got more complicated for us (as they do for most American taxpayers throughout life) and nowadays the GG still calculates the taxes but we also send them off to an accountant. The first year we did this was excruciatingly stressful because we had differing opinions about the need for a CPA but I think we have both been happy with this arrangement. It has certainly been less stressful for yer fav-o-rite blahgger.

Adult children and taxes? Oh man. I know people who do their children’s taxes with permission and cooperation… That is okay. Those who do their children’s taxes as a means of trying to control them? Bad.

I have never once seen a tax return for either one of my adult children. They handle that stuff themselves and they have been known to vociferously object when a parent asks the smallest of questions.

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