There are times that I make decisions based on what I see other people care about. For instance, I don’t care if my kid eats something off the ground, but I’ve noticed that other people seem to care, so when I see them pick up something that fell on the ground I tell my children, “Oh, don’t eat that. That’s yucky.”
I have a drawer by the stove that is full of utensils: spatulas, measuring spoons and measuring cups, whisks, a ladle, a can opener, vegetable peeler. You know. That drawer. I just had all the stuff in there, there weren’t any organizers and everything was just chillin’ out together. Like a party. One day my mom and mother in law and sister in law were hanging out in the kitchen. Maybe they were cooking or something, but they all wanted me to organize the drawer. The thought hadn’t crossed my mind that I should make a point to go to the store and purchase something to go into my utensils drawer that would keep my whisks from getting unruly. So I told them they could have at it. By the next day I had little compartments within the drawer and everything was in its’ place. Weeks later one of them asked me if I liked the drawer better and if I could find what I needed quicker. “I guess so,” I said. It really didn’t make a difference to me either way. But after a few years of living with it like that I can see that I always know which area of the drawer to go to when I’m reaching for my measuring spoons. (And that comes in handy when you’re making a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies.) Now I notice if someone else unloads the dishwasher and puts something back into the drawer in the wrong place. I found myself correcting my son when he was helping me out one day. “Actually, the measuring cups go HERE.” I heard myself and was a little annoyed.
But I can see that other people like the drawer better when it’s organized and neat. So I do it.
There are all kinds of things that people do that I wouldn’t do unless I felt pressured socially. Things like worry that I have a trampoline with out a net. I wouldn’t care if it didn’t have a matt around the springs, but it does because I inherited it like that. I have a trampoline because it is fun to jump on. Why can’t it remain simple? You feel like jumping high and doing a flip because it is fun, so you go onto the trampoline and do it. That’s how it was when I was a kid, but now there are all these safety measures people have taken.
When people jump high on something that is 3 feet off the ground, there is a risk of falling. Sometimes people might get the wind knocked out of them and every once in a while someone gets a broken bone. To me, these are unfortunate moments, but natural consequences of being human. But there are people, lots of people, obviously, who feel that if there is a risk, we should find ways to prevent these things from happening. So they design things and sell them, making the world a safer place.
My guess is that those people don’t have ADD.
8 comments:
Wow, you summed up my feelings exactly. My ever so loving sister-in-law reorganized my kitchen, I admit it looked prettier but I couldn't find anything so now I have your "party" draw where everything is mixed up and that is great with me. But I do have ADD so enough said.
I have thrown away two trampoline safety nets...rock on, sister.
i think we live in a time of fear about everything, big or small. diseases, predators, trampolines...it's a bit too much to worry about, but society does, which, in my opinion, is why this world is completely insane.
maybe you're just not as scared as everyone else?
I like your wisdom Britt, We put Hazel in the big "adult" tub tonight for the first time and I found myself worrying about the water spout thinking "oh I guess we should get one of those covers for it that I see advertised all over". I grew up with out one so why can't my kids! I also find myself starting to not care anymore if she eats hair or fuzz she finds now. It's to much to worry about. I liked the party drawer (and I usually like things super organized but I find that waning since Hazel came along) Besides it's you house, your kitchen :) love and miss you - so can't wait to see you all tomorrow!!!!!!!!
Well then maybe I have a little ADD in me :)
This post makes me a little sad. I tried to find my copy of "Dandilion Wine" by Ray Bradbury, but I think I lent it out. There is a chapter about the narrator's grandma and what an amazing cook she is. She wears these old foggy coke-bottom glasses and fumbles around the kitchen and never uses a cook book. Then her sister-in-law comes to town and "does her a favor" by making her get new glasses and organizing her kitchen... taking the baking soda out of a drawer and putting it in a container, that sort of thing. So grandma makes dinner... and it's horrible and an embarrassment and everyone goes to bed sad, hungry, and disappointed. So the narrator (a 12 year old boy) gets up in the middle of the night and puts on Grandma's old glasses and "reorganizes" the kitchen. He throws the baking soda loose back in the drawer, and fills the old coffee cans with salt and spices and raisins and all the odd things she kept. Grandma wanders down too, and knows what to do. She takes her old foggy glasses and begins to cook. And soon the whole family is in their PJ's around the dining room table and Grandma serves them the meal of a lifetime.
I would have been one of the people to comment on the state of your drawer, and I also would have offered to arrange it, because that is how MY mind works. "A place for everything and everything in its place." It's how MY mind knows where everything is (Todd thinks I have magical powers.) But I want my Brittany-treasure-brain to stand up and say, "Thank you for the offer, but this is how MY mind works. I know what is in this drawer and it works for me." I know there is stuff we ALL do because of social pressure, but I want the treasure-brains to stand up to the ordinary-brains and say "this works for me." I love your treasure-brain and how it works. I love YOU!
All I can say is !WORD! I love your honesty.
Oh man, how I want to meet you someday! So much of what you say resonates with me! (Maybe it's because I have ADD too) I actually like my trampoline better without the net because I think the kids play safer- and don't try to throw each other! (I am a friend of Suziepetunia by the way, and I am drawn to your blog!)
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