Oops

I wasn't misbehaving, I just wasn't very smart...

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Winters in upstate New York can drag on and on and on, so it’s always exciting when spring finally makes its appearance. I feel pure joy those first warm, sunny days and always have. One such spring afternoon when I was a little girl, my dad got out the sprinkler to see if he could revive the lawn. Well, the sprinkler being on is like winning the kid lottery so I asked if I could run through it. Mom explained that she hadn’t gotten any of my summer clothes out yet, so she didn’t know where my bathing suit was, and she didn’t want to stop gardening to go searching for it. I’m sure I got pouty, so she acquiesced and said if I wanted to play in the water in my birthday suit, I could.

That compromise did in fact strike me as odd, but a yes was a yes. You run with it, you don’t derail it with questions. I immediately went inside, put on the nice outfit I had been given for my birthday, and got to it.

Apparently, Mom and I had had a misunderstanding.

As you can see, Dad found it funny, and started taking pictures. That got him in trouble right along with me, and not for the first time. When I was even younger, and I mean so young I have no memory of it, I’m told I had some “helpful” contributions when Mom had a dinner party. She was an amazing cook and I’m sure she went all out on the meal, and that she put an equal effort into making sure the house was just so. I’m guessing I heard her talking about the need to clean the bathroom. That would explain my decision to surprise her by cleaning it myself. What I can’t explain is why I felt the need to stand in the toilet to do so. Apparently, I did a really thorough job, splashing water out of the toilet onto every surface in the room. And as apparently is my wont, I was wearing a dress and good shoes at the time, having already been made party ready. Again, Dad was first on the scene, and made the mistake of laughing. He swears he got into more trouble than I did that night. No boring small talk with the guests at dinner, I’ll bet. I gave them all something to discuss.