When I was young and at home, my mother would not allow me to do one thing because she had no confidence in me. Otherwise, she had complete confidence in me. At any rate, I begged her to let me try.
OH, NO, she would call in my little sister or little brother! She swore I could not hit a fly with a flyswatter. If she saw a fly and I was about to hit it, she would tell me in a firm voice not to try because I could not hit a fly. She was right, but I always tried to redeem myself by hitting one. We did not have a huge fly problem, but one fly was reason for a high alert. She and my father would not tolerate allowing one fly to live for one moment after it was spotted.
Yesterday, I hit a fly with the swatter! Cheer for me! I just wish I could tell Mama! In my head I said, "Oh, I wish Mama could have seen that!"
There were not many things I tried that I was not proficient doing, but this thing really, really mattered to me. I think it scarred me. Even now, I mostly miss flies, but I keep trying! Silly me.
Your turn
Did you ever have one thing you continually could not do or almost never could do and really wanted to be able to do it and prove yourself?
So many things. I would like to be able to draw.
ReplyDeleteI am not an artist drawer type, either. I decided I was hopeless in the third grade. But, no one made me stop, telling me I could not do it, thankfully...lol. Thanks for that.
DeleteWhen I was a teen, my Dad would often tell me I could not do things. But he did it, knowing that I would say, "Oh, Yeah? Watch me." and then I proceeded to do the things he said I couldn't. These were things like paint the side of our house or rototill the garden. In later years he told me, with a smile on his face, that he got quite a lot of work out of me using those tactics. :)
ReplyDeleteVicki,
DeleteMy parents always told me I could do something. So, telling me to stop trying to hit a fly was just frustrating.
So, now you know how to paint and rototill...lol.
Your story about the fly brought back "fly" memories. I couldn't hit a fly either. My father used to say I went after it like I was stalking an elephant. Our country kitchen had so many flies in the summer, my mother would take a towel and herd them out the screen door. Every time someone opened the screen door, they would slip in. She would yell at us, "either stay in or out."
ReplyDeleteJust read your comment on "Living Prepared" that you remembered sprinkling clothes. You don't look old enough to qualify for "older than dirt."
Janet,
DeleteSecond comment to you.
We never had lots of flies, except maybe occasionally. But, there were days we got in trouble for continually opening the door like you did. I read that flies can smell meat for 1.25 miles, so they all came to the screen doors
Janet,
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good picture of me about 8 years ago. Just yesterday, when young woman was talking about her age and what she did, I remarked "at going on 71m I..." Well, when we finished the conversation, she said, "You don't look like you could be in your 70s!" I think I do most days! But, I don't feel old.
When I was visiting my daughter in NYC about 20 years ago, her neighbor thought I was my daughter's sister.
I don't remember not being able to do things, just not being able to do things well. My sister used to say I would try anything once and if it didn't kill me I would do it again.
ReplyDeleteAnne,
DeleteMy sister said, referring to birthday and Christmas gifts, that she could always tell what I was into now. They were homemade, but not cheap or chintzy. And, I did do them again.
Actually, I suppose you could say I could kill flies, but not often enough to let me keep trying and flies keep escaping. So, no one trusted me, especially my mother. I am glad to see the things you tried did not kill you!
I, too, had a special chicken named Patti. She became a chicken friend when I was in the fourth grade. It was my chore to go feed the chickens. She was different from the other chickens. She wanted me to pay attention to her and pet her even more than she wanted her feed. I told my father about her and he noticed it too. When we moved from Louisiana to Missouri, we packed her up and took her with us. She was a plain white leghorn and very often laid two eggs a day and some of them double yoked. I will never forget her and can understand how special Fancy was to you.
ReplyDeleteJanet,
DeleteWhat a sweet story. You love Patti as much as I did Fancy. That was a long trip. I'm glad your parents took her along. Two eggs a day--she earned her keep! I understand your love for a chicken! Thanks for telling me about her.