It reminded me of when I was a kid. Every Saturday we used to have to clean our room. I shared the big converted attic with my two sisters, and we'd take the better part of the morning to completely clean and dust the whole room, including clearing off the steps going upstairs and cleaning out from under the beds. The latter job was my little sister Susan's. My older sister Patti used to fashion a garment out of a garbage bag for her with holes for her head and arms and send her under there with a little plastic cup to collect dust bunnies and general crud. After we were all done, my mother or father would come up and inspect. "Looks great!" they'd say. "Don't you feel good now that it's all done?"
My answer then and now would be, "Not really. I'm glad it's done, but I don't feel good, per se. I feel crabby and sore. I feel a little bit cheated out of the day. I feel like this sucks." Now, did I say that out loud to my parents? Oh, heck no. Actually, I don't remember saying anything. Probably an answer wasn't required. Those kinds of questions from parents are largely rhetorical.
Anyway, it was a sunny day today, and I was inside doing Necessary Adult House Stuff. At least it was only 47 degrees, so it's not like I would have been basking in the sun out on the boat or anything. Besides, we've already pulled and dry-docked the boat.
Interestingly, the ice cream truck came by this afternoon, playing its music, driving slowly down our avenue. I was momentarily confused and tried to think back to the last time it showed up. Maybe early September, I'm guessing, if not late August. It had no takers, by the way.
Probably I should have run out there and stopped that ice cream truck. After a day like today--feeling petulant and way too much like an old grownup--I could have used both a childlike moment and a reward.
Good for you for doing the GrownUp Things; I desperately need to do some around here. But when I work all week, my inner child just wants to do fun things sadly. I need to give her a good talking to.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the last time I saw an ice cream truck (other than the food truck variety); it's been years. They never seem to come through this neighborhood. And yes, you should have definitely rewarded yourself for all your hard work!
Gigi--Thank you for your praise. There's no one around here but us to tell us that we did a good job.
DeletePlease don't be too stern with your Inner Child. It's a marvellous thing that she is there at all after all these years, especially after the pandemic, and thank goodness.
Grown up things suck sometimes. I'm glad you got them done, though. Is a reward in order? My mom used to take us to the movies every weekend (matinee of course) after we finished our chores. That made the day at least not ALL about getting things done.
ReplyDeleteJ--I'm glad those jobs are done, for sure. Your mother did a great thing, offering a tangible reward like that. As kids, I guess we never figured out that if we kept our room neat, we'd have less to do on Saturdays and then more time to ourselves. I wonder why we were so dumb, never making that connection.
DeleteOur reward yesterday--besides having all those things finally done--was pizza and wine for dinner. Although we would have had that anyway, I think.
I did adult things today too. It was MOST annoying. But then I spent most of the afternoon going down memory lane looking for poems on my blog (I'm making a little crafty thing to give folks at Thanksgiving). It was pretty poignant reading comments by people who are no longer with us (or no longer blogging).
ReplyDeleteBug--It's all about balance, isn't it? I miss those people, too.
DeleteI want to go back in time and buy you an ice cream yesterday...
ReplyDeleteYour attic bedroom with your two sisters is so storybook like (even the garbage bag dress)! I hope you'll write more about it some day.
maya--Thank you. I'd have accepted it graciously and gratefully.
DeleteOur attic bedroom storybook-like? I can see where you'd get that impression. And it did have the sloping walls and cozyish appearance. But our life there was not quite storybook since our age differences were large. But I'll write about it at some point since you asked.
Dee--Knowing me, I'd probably have been outraged at the price.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, you gotta lean into being a child once in a while lest you permanently adopt an old codger mindset. Your childhood bedroom sounds like mine, but I had to clean mine by myself, less mess with one kid but also oh. so. boring.
ReplyDeleteAlly--Love the term Old Codger Mindset. If I borrow it and credit you, will you be okay with that?
DeleteThere were many, MANY times I wanted (even longed) to be an Only, but you're right. The companionship at those kinds of times was helpful and a comfort.
Good grief! You are describing how I feel every time I have to go and cook a meal. We have neighbours who are our vintage, almost, and the wife of the couple said almost exactly the same last weekend. When we got a meal Cooked For Us. Whenever I have had the money to do so, I have hired someone to do my heavy cleaning. It's luxury, sure, but does it ever help the gloom and resentment thingie.
ReplyDeleteI should add that right now JG is out moving crud off the lawn from what the tree cutters did not do. Sigh. What is even worse, he enjoys it, backache and all.
Mary--Isn't it such a feeling of resentment? And shouldn't we be past it by now? I guess not.
DeleteYour husband is just a putterer by nature. My grandfather was the same way. He was never happier than when he was busy doing something. We all thought it was because he was away from Grandma, who always found stuff for him to do inside.
Hmmm...?
I really need to do an over-haul on the house. Coach taught out of state last weekend (was requested to sub for someone with a family emergency last minute, so it wasn't on the initial agenda) and he's teaching locally this weekend. I'm not gonna dive into the tasks at hand solo. I need a partner. No one else seems all that interested though. I hate cleaning, but I do like it when it's done. Being a grown up isn't always the easiest of things. At least Coach will grill tonight, so I don't have to make a meal. The ice cream truck still showing up this late in the season is cracking me up.
ReplyDeleteErnie--Sometimes Rick and I take turns Being The Grownup. If one of us simply cannot handle whatever the Grownup Task at hand is, we simply tell the other that we can't Be The Grownup that day. Neither of us has ever abused it, so we're happy to take the mantle when needed.
DeleteThat ice cream truck is truly an oddity. The guy that drives it is a weird one. Once, we witnessed him park the truck and have a shouting match on his cell phone for about five minutes with wild gestures and profanity. Not your usual friendly ice cream vendor.
I feel this in my soul right now. My Sunday to-do list has the exciting things: cut the dog's nails, laundry, figure out benefits paperwork, and make granola. Womp womp. I could be reading.
ReplyDeleteNGS--My sympathies, especially with the paperwork. That stuff is awful. Sometimes being a grownup is like bootcamp, I swear. ;-)
DeleteI loathe doing all the grown up stuff, but find myself doing some of it daily. So, you're all done now: Don't you feel better? HA. Parents are funny.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when I lived with my Dad and Stepmom; my step sister and I had a long list of chores on Saturday morning that included our rooms and our parents room. I always thought that was crazy. CHILD LABOR. LOL
I think it's exciting if the ice cream truck comes on our street and I can actually hear it in time to visit....alas, that never happens.
BB Suz--No way should you have to clean anyone's room but your own, ever. That was mean.
DeleteYeah, I do grownup stuff daily, too, and it's no fun. I especially hate vacuuming--all that monotony. Trust me when I say that I will never, ever have another cat or pet with hair. EVER.