Son is, understandably, having a few problems with anger. His dad is in a nursing lodge, he himself is in a back brace and can’t do much for awhile, and his mother (me) always leaves the teaspoon, that she stirs her morning coffee with, on the kitchen table, making a little mark that needs to be wiped off with a sponge.
Yes, the teaspoon situation is very like the toothpaste lid on/off problem that apparently drives many previously happy couples, friends, partners etc. either to drink, divorce or dissolution – or all three!
So, why do I do this teaspoon thing? Usually I am not provocative, feisty, rebellious, contrary or uncooperative. Usually I would do anything to keep the peace but, for some perverse reason, the fact that leaving the teaspoon on the table enrages Son (he can be a bit of a neat freak, just like Husband), keeps me doing it. In fact, I now make it my job to leave that teaspoon right in the centre of the nice clean white table just to see what will happen. It’s the closest I have been to adventure for some time.
Sometimes it takes awhile for Son to notice. I’ll be out in my little office writing, or at the back doorstep feeding the peafowl, or doing the laundry, and I will hear him emerge from his bedroom, yawn, yell good morning to me, get his weetbix, turn the morning news on and so on. I wait with a sense of adrenaline-fuelled anticipation for his outburst because I now have the best weapon ever to combat his rage – laughter. Oh yes (or maybe that should be oh no), I am not going to be in fear and trembling any more.
Now, obviously I don’t do this every morning, or it would lose its impact. Mostly, I put the stupid teaspoon on the sink to be washed as I have been instructed to do by Son and, when you think about it, he is only copying Husband’s and my own breakfast routines drilled into him when he was a placid little boy. But, when I do leave the teaspoon on the table, I feel a wonderful sense of glee while I wait for the reaction.
“MUM! YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN – I’VE TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES AND I’M SICK OF YOU LEAVING THE TEASPOON….” Blah, blah, blah.
This brings an immediate grin to my face and I race into the kitchen and pretend to be all apologetic and then cannot stop laughing at the look on his face – oh it is wonderful! He stomps off, I continue to laugh until he re-emerges from his room laughing too. I love it but realize that we will soon have to find another form of entertainment.
Don’t worry – we have an appointment at the local Sanitorium next week. It’s right next door to the nursing lodge where nobody can even find a pen, let alone a teaspoon!Okay, that last bit was rubbish but laughing things off has definitely been better than saying “There are worse things….”
The three of us are learning a lot and that’s a very good thing, but sometimes I wish I could go back, just a little bit, in time….
For any newcomers to this blog, Husband is now in a nursing lodge due to advanced Parkinson’s disease and prostate cancer, and six weeks ago Son had major surgery on his spine for a severe scoliosis. The turkey chick in the picture was our first ‘Bubble’. As for me, I love teaspoons!
jmgoyder 