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Where is she going?

Source: http://bluntcard.com/100new47.php

Happy Friday everyone! {appropriate for this time of year}

My mom reminded me ….

I was up in visiting my mom, stepfather and Sandbaai last week.

My mom reminded me of something I had completely forgotten about.

Years ago, I was in Standard 5, and I entered a writing competition. I was 11 in Standard 5 – I turned 5 in Sub A, talk about having delayed puberty against my peers. Geez.

I think the competition was run in a local newspaper, or The Argus, but I don’t really remember the details.

Basically I wrote about the fact that I did chores, and I loved my mom or something of that ilk. I was 11, what did I know to write about?

The important detail is I won. The sponsor was Dairybelle. I received R300.00 or R500.00 in milk coupons – those plastic round disks that you used to exchange for Orange Juice or a Milk bottle.

Does anyone remember those plastic disks? When I was younger milk or orange juice was delivered to your house in the morning in a glass bottle. When you finished the juice/milk, you would put the bottle outside your front door, with a plastic disk in the bottle.

If the disk was white, the milk/juice man would leave a new bottle of milk, and if the disk was orange, he would leave an orange juice. Fresh pulpy orange juice. And you would reach out and pick up your bottles, outside your front door, and have them fresh for breakfast (or the milk was off if you got there late and it had stood in the morning sun).

Can you imagine fresh orange juice or milk outside your door – NOW – that no one steals?! What an idea.

So there I was with a shit load of coupons, and I did not drink orange juice or milk – what is a girl to do?

My mom knew a guy, and that guy did drink orange juice and milk. He was kind enough to take the disks off my hands, and give me the cash. Back then R300.00 or R500.00 was a shit load of money.

I used the money (because now I was rolling in it) and I bought contact lenses!

I wore glasses than were as thick as the base of a 1.5 litre coke bottle. I am like a minus 8 in one eye and a minus 8.4 in the other. How blind is that you ask? Get a labrador and a white stick blind – I am pretty blind.

I had been extremely self conscious about my glasses, and the opportunity to get contact lenses before I went to Standard Six was such a godsend.

Of course with contact lenses, one must get a cool hair cut which included short hair, a kuif (fringe) and a perm!! All so bad, so very bad. What ever my lenses redeemed, my near hair do shot out of the park.

Rocked 1985 like a rock star!!!!

The entire point of this post was to reminisce on my winning a writing competition as a child, which I had totally forgotten about and my mom had reminded me about this last weekend. Also on milk/orange juice disks.

3 Comments

by reluctantmom on July 12, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Family Stuff & Things

Tagged Mommy Bloggers, Motherhood Blunt Cards, Reluctant Mom

Posted by reluctantmom on July 12, 2012

https://reluctantmom.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/my-mom-reminded-me-of-the-time-when/

Stay at Home Moms …. kill me now!

If I have ever spoken derogatively to a stay at home mom, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies.

If I have ever used a tone in my voice to make it sound like the fact that I have a job to go to (that allows me to brush my teeth and leave the house) is in any way better than your situation, please let me offer my humblest apologise.

I am working from my little corner in my house. Each morning I wake up and get out of bed, as if I have a place to go to work.

I shower and brush my teeth simultaneously, dress, scream at kids to get ready, throw kids in car, forget something and have to go back, scream at kids for fighting in car, try to explain to Connor that I am slightly not interested in his Star Wars sticker collection ….. check that everyone is buckled in, reverse, argue with Georgia over {insert several options}, check time realise I am late …. get a bit stressed

I stick to a schedule that in my head I need to be “at the office and working” no later than 08h30.

All of this “drop off madness” goes on for about an hour.

But then I have three kids safely deposited at various schools across the northern suburbs, and I head home to make some tea, a nutella smeared sandwich and quietly (yet happily) work until about 16h40 and then I dash off to grab kids and it all begins again.

I have quiet content working time from 08h35 – 16h40. Bliss does not even begin to hint at it.

No one is screaming.

No one is arguing.

No one needs a bum wipe.

I just get on with my day and it is all rather blissful. I am a little worker bee content with my lot in life. Happy. Happy. Content is me.

But then last Wednesday Isabelle was sick and stayed home.

My day descended into crying, moaning and the constant pulling of the corner of my jacket and the high pitched whine of “Mem, Mem, Mem …” in ever louder repetition (from Isabelle, not the maid, though she also calls me Mem….go figure).

Isabelle was off sick on Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday I said that even if she has the bubonic plague she is going to school on Friday.

I don’t care if she infects every last child in her school, as long as I can have a few hours away from that incessantly whining and crying.

50 kids sick is a small price to pay for my 8 hours of peace and mental stability.

Friday arrived and she was still really sick. I dressed her for school oblivious to the fact that she was coughing up a lung and green coloured sputum. I just wanted her to go to her place where they make something arty with a Marie biscuit and she gets to play with her little Asian friend, and be 2km away from me.

Kennith called and said I really should not be sending her to school.

I cussed, only because he was right and I knew that the next 8 hours were going to be painful and only one of us was going to get medication.

Geez Louise! At least I had today to send her off to school – and I think I might have hummed in happiness after I dropped them off.

I have absolutely no idea how stay at home moms cope. I am convinced they are made from a certain mettle (not sure how to spell that, too lazy to go and google it) which I appear to have an alarming under supply of.

Stay at home moms, I seriously have no idea — like none —- how you do it, and appear to remain sane! I don’t envy you, but I am amazed in wonder and humbleness.