2010 January 28 — Pamela Faith

I am cleaning out my kitchen drawers today and decided to make a list of everything that was in them. I am embarrassed and ashamed of my family. I can’t stand things not to have their own homes, but obviously the rest of the family doesn’t care.

Science Kit Manual
(5) Empty CD Cases
(3) Xbox 360 games in their cases
Sirius Satellite Manual
A can of Fix a Flat
Sirius Vehicle Radio
MP3 Player
Pack of drawer brackets (we recently had one of the drawers break, and by the time you read this entire list, you’ll know why it did.
Clothespin
Soldering Iron
(2) Bag Clips
Ruler
Pocket Knife
(2) Wrench Sets in Plastic Cases
Plastic Bag that zips
Pack of Marlboro Cigarettes (it only had 1 cigarette in the box, My Sweetie and I both quit smoking early last year. I think he quit February 2009 and I quit shortly thereafter.)
2 Pocket Lighters
3 Long Stemmed Grill Lighters
Paperwork for our Durango (vehicle)
A Roll of Duct Tape
24″ Bungee Cord
(2) Flashlights w/o batteries
Soldering spool
Swimming Pool Light Cover
GPS Box w/ Accessories
Scissors
Sirius Radio Remote
Cell Phone Car Charger
(2) Car Air Fresheners
(2) Bicycle Manuals
(3) Lip Balms
Pocket Calculators
Dart Tips
USB MP3 Player
MP3 Player Remote
Wooden Dowel
Multi-Colored Wiring
Broken Couch Handle
Glue Stick
(20) Pencils
(7) Pens
Car Fuse
(2) 9V Batteries
Disorganized Messy Stack of Post It Notes
(9) Paper clips
(14) Pencil Erasers
Rubber band
(6) Drywall Screws
Cold Sore Medicine
Keyboard USB Converter
(2) Pencil Sharpeners
Cash Register Keys (we haven’t owned a cash register for several years)
(3) Screws
(8) Push pins
(2) Key chains
Kid Sized Plastic Cross Stitch Needle
(2) 3V Batteries
Button Cell Battery
(2) Safety Pins
(3) Dimes
Nickel
Penny
Ashtray
Walkie Talkie Charger
Dry Erase Marker
Air Conditioner Remote
C Battery
Pack of AAA Batteries
(4) Walkie Talkies
Wind Up Timer
Headphones
Surgical Scissors
Charger For A Razor
Windup Flashlight
Sugar Tester in Box
Motormouth’s Bible
Bookmark
Swiffer Coupons
USB MP3 Player with Headphones
(9V) Charger?
Cable for Computer Monitor
Gameboy Car Charger
Road Atlas
Temple Therometer
Motormouth’s Sunglasses
Magnifying Glass
Gameboy Charger
Cellphone Charger (to old phone)
MP3 Docking Station
Gameboy Case
Large Notebook
Small Notebook
My Sweetie’s Sunglasses
Sticky Labels
Science Kit Dropper
(3) Small Screwdrivers
Small Toy Flashlight
Toenail Clippers
Amp for Cellphone (signal)
D Battery
Gameboy Connector Cord
(3) Sharpie Permanent Markers
(7) AA Batteries
Upward Football Card
Yellow Highlighter
House (Monopoly Game Piece)
Tweezers
(2) AAA Batteries
(2) Large Paper Clips
Hair Clasp
Dice (actually only one)
(7) Battleship Game Pieces
Unrecognizable Cord

I can’t get it off my mind. Monday night, My Sweetie, Motormouth, Princess, and I were watching The Bachelor when all of a sudden Motormouth falls apart crying. I was in the kitchen part of the room trying to stay awake loading the dishwasher and ran over to him. I asked him what was wrong, but he was babbling uncontrollably. I looked at his dad and sister, but they looked as confused as I was. After waiting for forever a few minutes, we finally managed to make out, “I don’t want to die.”

My first thought was that he had received some message from the reaper or something. I wanted to know why he thought he was dying. Was there something wrong? Did I need to rush him to the hospital or what?

Mind you, this was about an hour into the t.v. show and out of the blue. The Bachelor is nothing about death or dying, unless you count the evil side of Ali. I’m pretty sure she is trying to figure out a way to eliminate Vienna.

Anyways, Motormouth concedes that he’s been bothered by the prospect of dying for awhile. He says that he is afraid of dying and not being here any more. Thankfully, My Sweetie decided to handle this one.

“I know your momma told you there was no god or heaven, but I never said that. No one knows for sure buddy.” I am rolling my eyes and thinking how I just got thrown under the bus. Reminding myself that it wasn’t the time to become personally offended, I swallowed some nasty retorts and let My Sweetie continue. “People that go to church believe that when they die they get to go to heaven. Maybe you should believe that.”

Motormouth shakes his head slanging tears back and forth and sucking up the snot trying to run out of his nose. “No, I don’t believe that stuff.”

My Sweetie resorts to … “People are living longer now than they use to. Babies use to die right after being born and grown ups killed over at about 30. Now you can live to be 100. I know this person who said he wanted to live to his 100th birthday and he did. He died about a month after his 100th birthday.”

During this bonding experience, Princess decides to help out. She starts dancing like a ballerina and shedding her clothes. I think she just wanted her brother to laugh and I couldn’t help but comment myself with, “We’re not paying you for this dance.”

This helps Motormouth start to laugh and then he goes back to tears. His father explains to him that it’s alright to cry and be a little afraid. My Sweetie tells him that everybody experiences that at least once in their lifetime. He ends the conversation… “You can talk to me any time you feel like you need to.”

I get Princess off to herself and tell her to stop talking about dying. I figure she creeped him out the other day when we were in the van. Every once in awhile she talks about how she wants to be cremated instead of letting the bugs eat her eyes out. She carried on with this for several minutes and I bet her brother was listening. My 11 year old boy is a bit more sensitive about these things than my 9 year old daughter. I don’t know why this is, but it’s the way our family works. I knew my daughter was a bit more scientific (non emotional) about death when I caught her with a pair of scissors cutting a bumble bee into tiny pieces. The look on her face during that episode still scares me today.

You never know what your kids are going to say or do. It definitely keeps you on your toes.