Joanna - If the mature (more or less) adult kids would do something as bizarre as adressing a letter to you as "Dad and Joana Mondae" (especially odd if your last name is "Smyth"), then the question of proper use of "Cheers from Pat and I" or "Cheers from Pat and me" (that is the right one, by the way, for those keeping score) is pretty much hopeless. For those adult kids, you should just consider yourselves lucky that they know your address to which to send holiday gifts. Take the gifts and don't worrry about how they address you. Lordie, what has happened to this generation?? Is it only baby-boomers who understand the basics of etiquette and grammar?

Olivia - I, too, try to speak to my clients (all of whom are employees of the same company for which I toil as in-house counsel) in words that are at least remotely comprehensible to the basically educated (or in the case of MBA's, jargonized) mind. Sometimes, they are shocked to hear me refer to money as "dough", not to mention my references to in-house affairs as "shagging in your own shack".

In any event, I don't understand the several comments from Marsha and Olivia which suggest that they are hesitant to correct their children in matters of grammar. Good grief, ladies, if you can't nag your kids, who can?? You don't want them going out into the world talking like rappers or Valley-girls, do you?! I personally have to deal with a sister and brother who (despite having degrees from decent universities - Montana and South Dakota - maybe that says something??) regularly drop such bombs of grammatical slop as, "Me and John went to see a movie." To say it makes I crazy is an understatement (which, as anyone familiar with my verbose postings knows, I am not likely to make).

Oh well, it may be hopeless to try to reform the masses who persist on abusing pronouns so. I will just have to be satisfied in driving my tiny staff of six mad with my particular obsession therewith (finally, the chance to use a stupid legal word).

Cheers, Fred