Sunday, March 20, 2011

Mother Connie Sez: Closets? Really?


Let's begin by saying that the house where we live is generously blessed with closets.  The sliding doors have exquisite wood grain and the house was built in the 1960's, so closets were not overlooked.  Each bedroom has ample closet space and there is a coat closet near our front door.

That said, if you stopped by, you'd never know there's a closet in the place!
 
We seem to live like teenagers.  When we come in from the paper route, we are tired and want our coffee, so we peel off our layers and hang them on the corners of the chair at the desk in the living room.  We take off our boots; Norm lines his up along the china cupboard.  I tuck mine under a chair near the computer desk.  Hats, scarves and gloves go in a heap, wherever they land.

As our day progresses, Norm's jammies hang on one of the posts of the bed.  His shoes are lined up beside the bureau.   My jeans might wind up on a doorknob.   

Were my mother still with us, she would have a COW.   From what I know about Norm's mother, I think SHE also would disapprove of these sloppy habits.




We do know better.  We just don't take the time to hang things up properly.  We fancy they are "handier" and more convenient as we pile them around.


My own mother was fastidious.  She was a stay at home mom of one and she took great pride in her homemaking skills.  She had a place for everything and everything was in its place.  I'm not sure how I've strayed so far from my upbringing.  But to be fair, my mother did not have a paper route during the night and she did not blog by day.  grin


There was a time-I must have been about 4 years old-when my mother and father disagreed about who should pick up whose dirty clothes and put them into the hamper.  I remember coming out of my bedroom one morning to find my mother's hosiery draped over a lamp and across the back of the sofa.  Her shoes were on a table.  Her dress hung from the light fixture in the ceiling and her unmentionables were stuck under the cushions of the chairs, just so they were easily seen.  

I asked what had happened, for I was sure we had been invaded by fly-by-night closet re-organizers.  My mother and father exchanged looks and I knew I should never have brought it up.  But after that demonstration my dad was careful to pick up his socks and place them in the laundry hamper on a regular basis.  I never noted that he got a hernia from doing so.  That subject never came up again, either.


When 2011 rolled in, I vowed to simplify my life.  Perhaps I've carried that a wee bit too far.  It could be time to rethink my bad habits. . .But what are the chances of Norm going along with me?  I have a cousin who is a professional organizer.  I guess it's time to pick up the phone...

Connie Baum
The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline.  Always do business with those you trust implicitly

4 comments:

  1. Your blog SCARES ME TO DEATH!
    Sure did........I saw photo of your closet and said a prayer under my breath. "Please don't let Connie ever visit my house and see my closets." I beat Fibber Magee by miles and miles. My mother was just like yours. And, no I'm not calling in your cousin either. When I die the boys will have to just light a match!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You can rest assured, dear visitor, that is NOT any closet in this house! They have photos for uses like these. The closets in THIS house do not make for pictures that are fit to publish!

    Fibber Magee conjures up delightful memories of sitting around the radio in the 40s and 50s just to hear all Fibber's stuff fall out when his wife hollered, "Don't you open that closet, Fibber Magee!"

    Thanks for reminding me. Do hurry back.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Norm wears jammies? If there's a fire here Both Doug and I are running out starkers! I just hope hope the firemen don't all turn around and leave when they see us.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Now that I think about it, Oh, Bodacious One, it might have been TMI.

    Starkers? I'd freeze! grin

    I love when you cruise by here...wish you could have been at last night's Poetry Slam at the prison! I laughed til I ACHED. You'd have appreciated every bit of it!

    ~MC

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.