And that's true, of course, or else no woman would ever have a second child. Another less discussed but very real area where women forget the past is when they take up grandmothering (and forget how they mothered). Look at that sneaky smile she has in this photo. Those aren't even my kids and you can see right away from the desperate look of the little guy that she's been plying them with something they don't get from Mommy. I'm wracking my brain: was there high fructose juice around that day? Could she have slipped my friend's child some sort of chocolate, or mentioned the possibility of a Power Ranger show later in the day? Here's a recent conversation between my mom and myself:
Me (on a random Tuesday): "I'm tired but--"
Mom (emphatically): "Oh honey put the boys in front of a movie! Take a break! You deserve it!"
Me: "You let us watch one hour of television a week. Had to be educational. I know all the episodes of 3-2-1 Contact, remember?"
Mom: "Oh come on. You saw Diff'rent Strokes and the Donnie and Marie Show."
Me: "Once or twice."
Mom: "Little House on the Prairie?"
Me: "Yes once in a while. But the point is, you never let us watch T.V. and now I'm ruined. I feel like I'm giving the kids crack cocaine when I turn it on."
Mom: "Malarkey!"
Here's another one:
Me (on any given occasion we eat with my parents): "W, eat your dinner or no dessert."
Mom: "Yes and please do eat it because we've got Dibbs and gummy bears and BIIIIIIIG chocolate chip cookies and a PIE! Sarah, can W have some Sprite with dinner?"
Me: "Are you aware that I didn't sip a soda until I was SEVEN, and I had to join a soccer league and play 45 minutes of hard core contact sports before you would allow me to enjoy the refreshing post-game sodas? Do you remember that even in High School you would buy about one six pack of Hansen's natural soda per year?"
Mom: "Really?"
Me: "Really."
Mom: "W, how about just a sip of Grandpa's Sprite for now?"
Me: "Gee, that's better."
It's beautiful, the way they forget.
1 comment:
So true... our treat drink was diet 7-up and "sugar" cereal was cheerios. Now my parents have a case of snacks from Costco and reesus puffs or something like that. Not to mention their stack of kids movies versus our 3 channel relic growing up where we were allowed to watch PBS when the TV actually worked :)
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