Some words come back to haunt you. I remember hearing my mother say this to us kids as we mooched around the house, getting under her feet, asking when dinner was ready, whether we were going to get ice cream tonight; there was nothing to do. And on and on.
I religiously passed these words onto my kids. The fresh air mantra. Was it lovely? Did it change your mood? Did you feel better afterwards?
Those questions remain unanswered. Still are.
Now I find I am at the receiving end of such advice from Daughter Number One.
And oh my dear god, it's so irritating.
She drills right down into it too, to make it all worse.
"It will do you a world of good, mum, staying indoors is not good, get outside. Go somewhere."
The following day, or days, she goes at it like this:
"Did you get out? How was it?" or conversely "Why not?"
I am back to being the defensive seven-year-old again, defending my knitting, my writing, my happy indoor life.
It's difficult to defend an aging position on life. I talked to another kindred spirit in the building. She's like me, content with her own company, her books and her knitting and old movies. She also bakes and I get to share in her largesse. Our daughters are the ones who turn our hard-earned little enjoyments into a major defect in our characters.
A few Sunday Selections, random photos from the past:
