Dear Mom, it was the same, right?
Posted December 18th, 2009 | Permalink
Dear Mom,
Was life this crazy when I was a kid? I don’t remember it being so.
Did you spend several hours every night helping us with homework, while cooking dinner, while doing laundry, while filling out permission slips and writing checks for play practice and lunch money, while baking cookies for tomorrow’s party at school? And then, did you stay up until 11pm most nights because even after all that you just weren’t done with the day’s chores?
And did we go, go, go all the time like this? Because I don’t remember that. Did you feel like you were always running late? To Girl Scouts and theater and sports and meetings and work? And did you skip meals just because “Oh please, like I have time to eat”?
I think I remember you eating.
While driving in the car, much too fast for the town speed limit, getting everyone where they need to be, and doing way too many errands in much too little time, did you get anxious and more stressed listening to the radio? Did you listen to the troubles the government officials were having getting along with each other and did it make you squirm in your comfy car seat? Listening to how if they couldn’t get their sh_ _ together, your living expenses were going to go up – did that make your heart pump faster? You know, knowing that you had ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL OVER THAT? Cuz, I don’t remember hearing you mention that.
Maybe because I was a kid, you didn’t mention it around me. Or, maybe because I was a kid it didn’t worry me so I forgot all about it. Too busy thinking about Christmas – seven days away.
And I don’t remember you ever having to tell me that it scared you that I was using that particular computer program while you weren’t home – that you felt it was dangerous. In fact, I don’t really remember you saying that anything was dangerous, except climbing too high in the tree, or playing 2-square in the middle of the road. And you let me do that anyway – just said to be careful.
And did I play video games too much? So much that you had to walk across the room and turn them off just to get my attention? Was I that disconnected? I don’t remember that. I don’t remember having so many things to think about as a kid, or having so many constant distractions and bombardments on my brain that I couldn’t focus on just one thing at a time. Do you remember that? I don’t recall you ever saying, “You can’t use the TV, computer, stereo and game player all at once. Please turn three of them off.”
Come to think of it, I don’t remember you ever checking the ingredient label on our food either. You must have been worried about all that extra sugar that’s hidden in there under new names for sugar that are completely impossible to keep track of or decipher. And it must have worried you that so, so, so many of the products in the store had MSG and other disturbing and completely unnecessary chemical additives in them for no reason at all. Funny, I don’t think I ever heard you complain about that, or saw you shake your head in disgust while reading a label in the aisle of the store.
It’s not possible that those additives weren’t in there back then, is it?
You know what else is funny? I also can’t picture your bottle of sedatives or anti-depressants that you MUST have had in the bathroom cabinet in order to deal with it all. I mean, everyone had those, right? Hmmm, I don’t remember ever seeing you take one.
I think my memory must be very foggy. I’m sure the world was moving just as fast back then. I must be getting old.
Love,
Kate
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