Your brother is a reporter after his mother’s heart.
Dominic: Did you know Gideon’s got a girlfriend? Me: What? No! Him: For a month now. Long distance. She lives in Arizona. Her name is Kate [redacted]. Me: What? How did they meet? Him: On Yubo. We made Dylan download it because he’s got no girl. Me: Is that like a dating social media app for y’all? Him: Yeah. Like Tinder. Me: Tinder for kids. Kinder!
😂
(I’ll be here all week. Don’t forget to tip your server!)
It’s been an interesting year, right? We’ve made work work. And most of us did it from home, with all corresponding challenges/distractions.
I don’t know about you, but my space is not ideal.
My friend Tammy came to visit this past weekend. She HOWLED when she saw my setup.
I can’t believe you haven’t written about THAT yet!
I haven’t. It’s a little … embarrassing. I’ve had to carve out a corner of the living room.
Here’s a peek behind the curtain — the room behind the Zoom:
The other night, I walked over there to put something down on my way to the couch. Eddie said:
Oh, you just had to stop by work for a minute?
Yeah.
Sigh.
For the first six months of the pandemic, I still got dressed in my professional lady clothes (including heels) and went to work during regular business hours. But when my university welcomed back a designated number of students in the fall, the number of faculty/staff allowed on campus had to be limited.
So I set up operations at home and made the best of it.
I still dress up for work (at least on top) but I wear slippers now.
I’d love to get a look at your Zoom room. Please share!
I am sure you are a lovely person. I appreciate your commitment to football. I am impressed by your communication skills.
However.
I am not as committed to football as you are. I never wanted to be a sports mom. But now that I am one, I want to remind you that my son is in school to get an education.
Practices five afternoons a week and three mornings is a bit much, don’t you think?
You don’t?
Ok.
Have you seen No. 27’s grades? Granted, they were on the downhill slide before football entered the picture.
But now he’s really got an excuse to be behind.
And for what? So he can stand around for a few hours on a Friday night?
Yes, yes, I know. He needs to learn. To pay his dues. To wait his turn.
I guess it will help him learn teamwork and time-management skills.
And there are worse places than a stadium to be on a pleasant Friday night.
Thank you for sharing with me the link to the car you want.
I regret to inform you that we are not going to get you a car at this time.
There are three very good reasons for this decision:
You do not yet have your license. You only have a permit until September.
You haven’t saved up enough money.
You are failing four out of seven classes.
Also, a MUSTANG? As a teenaged boy? A teenaged boy with terrible grades? You will not be able to afford the insurance. We will not be able to afford the insurance.
You said you wanted a car to be able to drive yourself to football practice, thus making it easier for us.
Thank you for your concern.
What I can offer you is my bus pass. The No. 25 goes right to your school.
Love,
Mama
*Thanks, Tracy Chapman. (Now try to get that song out of your head.)
I need you to calm the F down right now. I’m not sure why you feel the need to clamor for my attention, but perioral dermatitis is not a good look for me.
I guess I should be happy I can hide it behind a mask right now.
But I’ve been dealing with you on and off for three years.
These are all the options I’ve had over the past three years to fix you.
The latest dermatologist said that this flare up was NOT due to my nickel allergy, but to the ointment the prior dermatologist told me to use.
She was horrified when I told her I was using it twice a day every time the rash popped up again. As instructed.
Fantastic.
I’m on a new antibiotic and have a new cream to get you to settle. But she said you would get much worse before you got better.
She was right.
I can’t even wear makeup right now. #nofilter Clearly.
I’m so glad you showed up. I suddenly feel much more optimistic about … everything.
Tomatoes, basil, mint, oregano
I have new herbs planted on the balcony, and I had my first hummingbird fly-by of the season this morning. He was a beautiful ruby-throated specimen. It wasn’t Tony. This one was a little wary of me. I’ll call him Ned.
I’ve been filling the feeder for weeks in anticipation.
(If you fill it, they will come.)
Fall always used to be my favorite season, but you’ve really grown on me over the past few years.
I don’t want to scare you off, but I think I love you.
So thanks for being you. I’m so glad to have you in my life.
When did women sign up to be house managers? Hint: We didn’t.
Maybe in the Cleaver-style 1950s, things were more equitable. Men worked. Women stayed at home, raised the kids, and kept house. But now most women have full-time jobs and STILL have all the things to do at home.
Yes, there are exceptions. Yes, I’m oversimplifying. Yes, yes, yes.
But still my point remains.
I know you want to @ me with sentences that start with:
“But not all men … “
“But what about … “
“But I do … “
Please don’t.
Look. Listen. I’m sure you are lovely and think you are an equal partner.
But I bet you are not.
Ask the lady in your life. Listen to what she says.
Now that I’m conscious of mental load, I notice things I never noticed before. Gender roles are so ingrained.
A couple of weeks ago, we were visiting the house where my sister in law is staying until she gets her own place. It’s the home of a lovely professional couple. We were all outside chatting: three male adults, two male teenagers, three female adults. The lady of the house was being a good Southern hostess — getting drinks, bug spray, snacks, etc. My SIL disappeared. I found her in the kitchen alone making dinner. I rolled up my sleeves and started helping. We were in there working on dinner for about two hours while the guys had a nice chat outside.
To recap: Women inside making dinner or serving snacks/drinks. Men outside relaxing.
To be fair, when my SIL asked a couple of the men to help with one part of the dinner, they did.
But they had to be asked.
Now reread the article I linked.
That’s right.
Now do you see?
I thought you might.
Thanks in advance for taking on more of the mental load. Your partner will appreciate it.
