Before there were cell phones

The other day I wore a long wool coat that I hadn’t worn for years. It was my mom’s and I had borrowed it a number of times as an older teen and young adult. After my mom passed away, it became mine. In this coat, I’d attend things like nice dinners, church stuff, and symphony performances. 

Inside the pocket, I found a note penned by my mom and left on the kitchen counter for me to find from many years back.  Her handwriting is so distinct - very beautiful cursive with capitalized script to emphasize locations -  I recognized it immediately. She was explaining to me how I would meet up with my family for a performance downtown since I had to work late. 

When I found this note, I was deep in the trenches of visiting the hospital and hoping very optimistically (and correctly!)  that all would be well with Jess. When I came upon it, I was grateful for the way it made me feel like my mom was around and going to meet me at the FOOD COURT by SBARRO. I like to think she was looking out for me.

 After realizing that this very well-placed note had buoyed me up, I laughed and thought to myself, this is what we did before cell phones, that is, post-it notes on kitchen counters with the assurance that “we’ll look for you.”

Today we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas

I guess I’m getting weak as a parent. I used to hold fast to the “no Christmas movies before Thanksgiving” rule, but today I broke that rule, even though my nine year old reminded me of it. What’s happening to me? 

I’m letting candy be eaten before lunch. I’m forgetting to make kids practice piano before video games are played. My kids’ friends are here or over at friends’ house way past 5:30 (my childhood curfew). Beds aren’t consistently made for Pete’s sake. 

But we had a vegetable tonight at dinner. I played several rounds of the game “Spot It” with my kids. We went on a walk together as a family. And I didn’t totally lose it when someone with a mouth full of whipped cream laughed and while doing so spit out said whipped cream got all over the bathroom door. Don’t ask. 

Parenting takes a lot. Sometimes rules don’t get followed and you end up watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” But you feel okay at the end because that movie never fails to deliver even before Thanksgiving. 

Black Friday

I think the definition of Black Friday has changed. 

It used to be: the Friday after Thanksgiving when goods are deeply discounted to increase sales.

Now it seems to be: the whole month of November, starting right after Halloween, where goods are discounted at normal rates to increase sales over a long period of time. 

Which strategy best improves the bottom line? I bet I can guess.