I Am Thankful for Kids Coming Home

Here’s an update, folks.  Both our sons will be home for Christmas.  With the expectation of having not two — one son and one daughter-in-law — and now having five — the older son, another daughter-in-law, and a grand-baby — one may think that we have crossed the stress level.  Not so.

Maybe it’s one of those things that happens when you get older, but the way I look at it we now have eight extra hands to help in the kitchen and a play pal for the older people.  Of course, my mother-in-law has her knickers in a twist wondering if we will have enough food.  That’s something that plays in the minds of even older folks — the Depression area group.

I know I should not be “short” with folks who are even older than I, but I am going to admit that washing aluminum foil for a second use and keeping every plastic container that has a lid is just beyond my scope of reasoning.  Now, my mother-in-law will remind me — and she does — everyday that we must conserve.

Look, I have nothing against being thrifty and not being wasteful, but sometimes it can get the best of me.  I was cleaning the house the other day — actually watching as a neighbor was running the dust mop under my mother-in-law’s bed.  The neighbor asked what was in the box that was taped so neatly.  Of course, I had no idea.

Surprise!  Surprise!  My mother-in-law had put thread — plain old sewing thread — that will qualify as antique by anyone’s standards in the box and taped it shut — safe keeping.  I will admit that I rolled my eyes.  I have thrown that thread away five times that I can remember and we all know my memory isn’t what it used to be.

Apparently, the older member of our family has rescued the thread each time we toss it.  There is no way to get rid of it.  I throw it out and she retrieves it.  If only the dog were as efficient.  Anyway, it occurred to me that with two new daughters-in-law I could get rid of the antique thread collection once and for all. 

Last night we divided the spools of threads into two equal piles, one for each of my daughters-in-law.  Won’t they be surprised when they open those gifts.  And, yes!  I did wrap both packages as pretty as anyone could ask and they are now mixed in with other presents under the tree.

To the best of my knowledge neither of the girls is much on sewing.  In fact, I seriously doubt that either could sew a button on without making a knot the size of a cow’s eye.  Now, I’m not dissing either of the young wives.  They are both quite clever and extremely smart — and I say that as a proud mother-in-law.  But, since both are still in school getting advanced degrees in subject matter that didn’t exist when I was at the university I just can’t see either as the sock darning little woman.  Much like my boys, both the girls seem to have an abundance of “book sense” and run a little short on common sense and everyday stuff.

Again, I am not saying anything negative about my boys or their wives.  I can fully identify with them.  I grew up in a household where my mother called the electrician when a light bulb burned out. 

For most of my younger life my cousins would make fun of me because I was “so dumb to make such good grades.”  That’s just another way of saying more “book sense” than common sense.  But, in time and through lots of experience I either learned from watching or figured out lots of common sense stuff.  Life is a great teacher.  And, like one of my sons said, “We are doing fine.  So far, we haven’t gotten into anything we couldn’t get out of.”  (He spent a couple of hours looking for a Phillips head screwdriver one afternoon before asking what it looked like.)

Okay, so as the holiday approaches this is turning into a magnificent season for cleaning house.  And, yes — I am so thankful that the kids are coming home.  I hope the girls enjoy the thread and take it away from here with the spirit with which it is given.

Tagged as: Kids coming home