There was a discussion on Twitter today centred around how one mum would sort out her children's accumulated clutter. The consensus was that the best way to sort it was to put it all in black bags (adult clutter included) and charge a 1p tithe to release it to its owner. A very good idea, and one that we could do with using in this house from time to time (I would owe a lot of money)!
This discussion amused me, particularly as from the ages of 5 - 21 I was possibly the least tidy person that God lovingly created! I have gradually improved but that is mainly thanks to the influence of a certain Curate of my acquaintance whose own tidiness borders on excessive (in my humble opinion). However during the years above I lived with my parents and then in various student digs where my untidiness knew no bounds!
One particular incident from adolescence is worth sharing (although those of you with teenagers should look away now in case you are moved to follow my Mum's example).
I had gone for tea at a friend's house a couple of streets away, and I received a phone call. It went like this:
Me: "Hello Mum, what's up?"
Mum: "Oh nothing, I am fine now, but you need to come home immediately!" Said in an calm and slightly scary voice.
Me: "What have I done?"
Mum: "Come home now!"
I raced all the way home, my heart beating ninety to the dozen to discover my fate. I had no idea what i could possibly have done to be in trouble but I still felt guilty. When I arrived home, Mum was still calm and she said "I was appalled by the state of your room today and so in a fit of anger I have thrown all the things that shouldn't be on the floor out of your bedroom window and you need to go into the garden and collect them. Now!"
I scuttled off into the garden to retrieve random items of makeup, magazines, soft toys, and most embarrassingly discarded items of dirty laundry. Most of the laundry (mainly pants to my shame and disgust) had already had a pre-wash cycle as my window was directly above the garden pond!
When I came back in and apologised for my room and the mess and assured Mum I would try harder in future, she accepted my apology and we continued our evening in peace. However when I went to bed that night I discovered that she hadn't finished my 'unusual' punishment. As I got into bed I squealed at a strange noise - Mum had filled my duvet cover with my discarded sweet wrappers! Needless to say they went in the bin (where they should have been in the first place) immediately.
So teenagers, if you are being berated for the state of your room, or not taking your washing to the laundry bin, just remember it could be far far worse
I think I can top that one. When we were teenagers, my three brothers and I were all relatively untidy, but the youngest one, who collected and played a huge variety of stringed instruments, used to drop his prized Spanish Guitar on the sitting room floor, hall floor or any where he felt like leaving it on arrival home.
ReplyDeleteMy desperate mother warned him repeatedly that she would not tolerate it any longer until one night, guitar dumped on floor as usual, off he trotted to bed.
Next morning, rushing to get ready for work, he asked where the guitar was and was silently directed to the back door. He opened it and there lying on its back in pouring rain was his beloved Spanish beauty.
It had spent the night out there and was saturated. Needless to say, he never did it again.