How else can you explain the oddball, quirky habits that are shared by the parents of others in my age group?
Organic social media (i.e. actually talking to my friends) has confirmed that my folks weren't alone. Some of these habits can be attributed to a childhood spent surviving the depression. Others may have appeared in Family Circle or Woman's Day, two affordable go-to magazines that were widely read by housewives (and which were located near the checkout counter at Kroger).
Here are some examples of what I'm talking about.
My mom used to save empty milk cartons and bread bags, put the bread bag in the milk carton, and stuff banana peels and other garbage into it. Then, when it was full, she tied up the bag and took it out to the garbage. Presumably, this was so that the garbage wouldn't stink up the rest of the trash.
Growing up, I didn't think much about this. But one day at work I got to ruminating with friends about the oddity of this particular habit. And, here's the weird part: my friends said their moms did the same thing. Which brings me back to wondering, how did they know to do this? It wasn't something that was handed down from earlier generations, because, of course, half gallon cardboard cartons didn't exist then. It just reinforced my theory about a secret society where moms shared tips and tricks.
Facebook, my secondary go-to social media source, featured a photo of a t-shirt that asked how many of us had received corporal punishment from a wooden spoon. Yep, there's another one. My mom was famous for wielding her wooden spoon. Me being me, all she had to do was threaten, and I'd sign over all my worldly possessions if she would refrain from striking me. This bit of theatrics usually worked -- my mom would be trying so hard not to laugh, she gave up being pissed at me.
The point is, wooden spoon? Really? A simple back of the hand wasn't enough? How did moms know to rummage through the drawer and choose a wooden spoon? Granted, it was ideally suited in shape and size, but they could just as easily have chosen a spatula. Of course, for awhile my mom did use a paddle from one of those hit-the-rubber-ball-with-a-paddle toys for her implement of punishment. Unfortunately, it met its match on the posterior of my younger brother (the crack heard round the house), and it was back to the wooden spoon.
Other stuff: pouring fat from the pan into a soup can and putting it into the refrigerator to harden, then throwing it away so it wouldn't mess up the pipes. Re-purposing anything and everything, including bags from boxes of cereal. And refusing to wear new underwear until the old ones were in tatters.
And one more, this time from my dad. He used to flatten big cardboard boxes and put them on the garage floor to prevent oil from ruining the concrete.
It's pretty magical, actually. They didn't have the internets or infomercials to guide them.
Then again, they did have Heloise Hints. Hmm. That's something to look into.
I wonder if she has a website...
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