Some thing you just can’t get away from. Everyday when I got home from school, it was the same thing.. Mother met us at the door. “Take off your clothes and hang them up. Take off your shoes and put them under the bed. Get a biscuit out of the oven and do your homework. Then you can go play.”
I hated hanging up my clothes, preferring to pitch them wherever they landed. I got sick of hearing how much work went into washing, starching, and ironing them. After all, she had a wringer washer, clothesline, and iron. What else did she have to do anyway? She was a mother, not a person. I got sick of all that nagging about my shoes. I didn’t always have time to go back and put my shoes away when I tried to slip out to play. Many times I’d kicked them off in the yard. Once a dog chewed one up, a disaster, since getting new shoes involved pinching pennies and careful timing. Daddy got paid on Thursdays. Mother went to the bank and did all her shopping Thursdays. There would be no money till the next payday. A Tuesday shoe emergency messed up the whole plan. Daddy also had to be dealt with. When we messed up, she was responsible. It rained on the just and unjust alike.
Finally, the point of the story. Despite my best efforts, Mother’s teaching, or genetic input took control. The instant I get home, I change and hang up my clothes and put my shoes in the closet. If I had one, I’d certainly have gotten a biscuit. This just isn’t right. You’d think after more than sixty years , I’d get a break.
Worse yet, I have to be frugal. I have to use it up. Wear it out. Make do or do without, just like people were directed during World War II. Paper towels and napkins are wasteful, so I use dish cloths and cloth napkins. Buzzy went into a clawing frenzy and scratched a hole in my nice bamboo sheet a while back. He is not frugal. I couldn’t bear to toss those beautiful sheets and pillow cases, so I am making them into napkins and hankies. Bamboo hankies are $19.99 per six pack. Bamboo napkins cost $19.99 per twelve. So far, I’ve made a dozen napkins and a dozen hankies and some sleeping shorts for Bud. . There is enough left over for more several more hankies, napkins , dish towels, dust cloths, and doilies for embroidery. I am sick of the carcass of those sheets , but can’t bear to throw them away when all this costs nothing but some work. I think I need therapy.
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