All families have a favorite past time. One that usually tops the list in any family is telling "Remember when..." stories. These are stories of stupid funny things that people in the family have done over the years. Of course, as a child, we especially love to remember and laugh at the times when mom (or dad) are the brunt of the joke and believe me, I've had my fair share of teasing my mom.
To this day I will never forget when Mom, Dad, and I were in the car and my father was driving through Mt. Clemens where the main road splits in the heart of downtown making two "one way" throuroughfares around the circumference of the town. I can still hear mom's lovely voice as she asked my father "Daddy (after 10 kids they fell into the "mommy/daddy" habit), are we on this side of Mt. Clemens?" Of course my father couldn't resist; "No, we're on that side."
Or the time when I was looking at a beautiful photo of my mother (who is also from a very large family) with her three sisters taken sometime around the late 40s, early 50s. They all had the 1940's "jitterbug- do" (shoulder length hair and controlled waves; think "Boogie, Woogie, Bugle Boy"). It is an awesome photo which really marked the era and showed the love they shared. This feeling triggered my question to my mother: "Mom, were you close to Aunt Helen?" (Aunt Helen is the oldest sister - my mother is the youngest.) To which she replied; "Well, we were standing about 3 feet apart." Ah.. memories!
Unfortunately, I found out today that the tables have turned and I am now the mommy who will long be remembered as the brunt of a family joke thanks to my almost 4 year old who has the memory of an elephant. And not just any joke, but undoubtedly the most overdone cliche in the book!
Breakfast went something like this... (as I'm cutting up a banana for the girls like I've done almost every morning since "the incident" happended 6 months ago) "Mommy, do you remember when you slipped on the banana peel?" [spit take] [OMG! I think the question is do you remember it?]
Okay, okay, I admit this sounds totally made up but believe me I only wish it were since I'll probably now be reminded about this for the rest of my days. But yes, it did happen and here's my side of the story: it was in the parking lot behind the California Avenue Starbucks, where they "conveniently" put a dumpster right by the parking, which (of course) had recently been emptied (hence the offending peel left in the middle of pedestrian traffic), and I had a wriggling 12 month old Sweet Pea in my arms and couldn't see around her.... [Please send me any other excuse you can think of so I can add it to my list entitled "Reasons why I slipped on the banana peel" - I'm definitely going to have to be better prepared for Poppy the next time she asks!]
With my mind racing and telling me to "be cool" so this doesn't become a consistent family joke, I finally gathered my composure enough to say; "Yes honey, I remember."
Oh who the heck am I kidding?! It was hilarious, and just thinking about the picture of me with Sweet Pea in my arms saying "WHOW" as my foot slid uncontrollably and I almost landed on my butt with her (Lucille Ball had nothing on my physicial comedy) made Poppy and I laugh uncontrollably for about five minutes. And I have to admit, it was pretty incredible sharing this memory with her, even if it is the memory of mommy acting like a total buffoon.
What are your "Remember when..." moments? How did you successfully recover your "cool mommy/daddy" points or were they forever lost?
Cross-posted at Silicon Valley Moms Blog.
