Family Aphorisms

Dear Mandella,

I don't know whether you have this saying on your side of the pond, but over here it's kind of popular: "Put on your Big Girl Panties [knickers] and deal with it." It means quit whining and act like an adult. I've had to do this very thing over the past couple of days.

My house is looks like it has been inhabited by roving bands of slovenly teenagers who help themselves to food but never clean up afterward and leave their plates wherever they finished with eating. Everything has been in disarray. The clothing that is clean has been piled haphazardly in baskets in the living room -- if I need something without wrinkles in it I have to toss it back into the dryer for about 10 minutes. I won't even attempt to describe the bathrooms. I considered putting out a distress call to all friends and family, then decided that it was time to put on the Big Girl Panties and deal with it.

But first I was going over to my mom's the sew.

I was telling my mom the "Big Girl Panties" philosophy. Now, my dear mother has always worn heavy support hosiery. Lately, however, when her gastro-intestinal system has been feeling poorly, she hasn't pulled up the panty part of the hosiery all of the way (don't worry -- you'd never know it unless she told you this was the case). She refers to them as being "at half mast."

I hope you're laughing as hard as I was at that point. :)

But, you know, I was thinking that it's a good analogy in a way. Some days I'm trying really hard to be an adult and to cope with all of the stuff going on around me, but I don't quite make it, so it's like my Big Girl Panties are at half mast.

This would be adequately describe today's sewing session. I worked only 4 of the log cabin squares because I kept making mistakes. OK, it didn't help that I was laughing pretty hard with my mom (does one salute the panties at half mast?), but I was actually tired and screwing up things -- using a light piece when I should have used a dark one, using the wrong size, sewing to the wrong part.

My husband's family has a saying: "Three moves equals a fire." It meant that things get lost every time you move from one house to another, and after three times it was like you'd had a house fire because so much of the original stuff you remember has gone missing. Well, for my sewing today the saying could have been "Four errors equals Quitting Time." I carefully undid my last error (you have to be very careful to not tear the tissue paper foundation), finished the remaining pieces correctly, then put it all away for another day. No whining; just admitting that it wasn't my day to get it all done.

When I drove home I wasn't certain what I'd find but I expected that the house would still be a pig sty and my DH would still be in bed and dealing with end-of-term exhaustion/depression. But, I was going to cope with it as an adult, which meant I was ready to do what I had to get done in order to stay a little sane.

Good news: As I drove up to the house, he was working outdoors. He had mowed all of the lawn, trimmed out all of the weeds, done all of the edging work, and was in the process of trimming several bushes that were getting out of hand. Before I could say a word, he apologized that he hadn't tackled his indoor chores yet, but he'd wanted to get the outdoors done before it rained.

It's going to be OK. I changed lightbulbs, tidied up the bedroom (including the closet), and now I'm going to deal with the laundry.

Oh, I have been knitting. I've got a waffle sock at the gusset (this is the first of a pair), a stocking cap nearing the crown, and I've finally gotten a sleeve started for the latest pullover. But there are days when you have to just put down the knitting in order to get other things done.

Hugs and happy days to you!

Judith