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MOM'S BACK-UP PLANS

by linzy bruno
10/02/2024 / Family

Being from 'the baby-boomer' generation, I've been around long enough to have seen many drastic changes in the way our society operates, especially in regard to our natural human behaviors. For example, in today's world when we run out of a necessary household item, we go out immediately and get it. Even in cases where we can't go out, we would still ask someone we know to pick it up for us or call our spouse to see what can be worked out. The way we handle this situation has changed a great deal over time and I find it interesting to ponder, especially considering that back in the old days, like most of our neighbors, we only had one car in our family, which our father always took to work; leaving our mother to work around that inconvenience.

Not that there's anything wrong in running out to the store several times a week; what I'm suggesting is merely an observation of how much more resourceful our mothers had to be just to maintain life as usual on the home front and I recall many of these instances, some of which are also pretty funny!

Growing up in the seventies, our family life could be described by an expression I've heard that says something about 'living by the seat of one's pants.' Every day me and my two siblings would laugh at our mother for her constant need to dig deep into her bag of tricks, which was in essence a knack for resourcefulness.

Allow me to illustrate with the following examples of interactions that happened around our house and always when our father wasn't home:

"Mom!" I heard my sister, Diane holler from the bathroom.

"What is it now?" Mom yelled back, as she continued washing the breakfast dishes.

"We're outta toilet paper and I need some NOW!"

"Okay! I'll bring you some napkins," she would calmly holler back.

Then later, being the good daughter that I was; I would go down to the cellar to start the laundry. 'Ut oh, we're outta laundry detergent,' I observed, the moment I entered the utility side of the basement. "Mom! We're outta laundry soap!" I would stand there and yell.

"Okay! Come up here I'll give you the dish liquid, we can use that until I go shopping," she would always reply.

"Are you sure it's okay to use this stuff in the washer Mom?" I would sometimes inquire.

"Well it doesn't seem to cause any problems......but, do me a favor and don't mention it to your father okay?" she would reply.

Life went on like that until we eventually had two cars in the family, but even though it had its down side, I couldn't help but notice how it taught my mother to be incredibly resourceful as a result. She was pretty amazing to me. She seemed to have a back-up plan for pretty much anything!

If I said, "Mom! We're outta toothpaste!" She'd say: Use baking soda or salt!"(For this one she had 2 back-up plans.)

If I said, "Mom! We're outta soda and I REALLY want some!"

She'd say, "Well you can mix the club soda with juice, that is, if we have any!"

If I said, "Mom! We're outta shampoo! And my hair is REALLY dirty!"

She'd say, "Just wash your whole body, including your hair, with the bar soap!"

If I said, "Mom! We're outta napkins!" She'd say: "Use paper towels!" (And vice versa. I guess everyone does those, but still it's an example.)

If she was cleaning and she was out of Windex for the windows she would simply mix a batch of vinegar and water solution. With her recipes she would improvise when necessary too. These ways of hers inspired me greatly over the years. I like the way she "thought outside the box" as they say, and I tried to learn this from her in my own way and time.

A lot of my ways are different, but the philosophy is the same. My mother has taught me that when you have a need that you can't meet in its usual and ordinary fashion, resourcefulness is a wonderful skill to fall back on.

Furthermore, it helps with appreciation for what you do have and places the emphasis there and helps develop money-stretching abilities at the same time.

So many of these memories bring a smile to my lips, but, I think the funniest times were the times she'd have us use napkins instead of toilet paper, but also a little dangerous considering we had a well instead of city water lines. I recall her warnings about not putting too many down the toilet, because they could clog. Not to mention the unpleasantness of her having to inform our father, as we all instinctively knew, he would have seriously disapproved of that one!

When I think about it, God was really watching over her by allowing our septic system to handle all those napkins!

I will always remember my mom's wonderful ways of making everything feel okay and actually BE okay, even when we were actually quite stuck, not only because of not having a second vehicle, but also the inability to stock up on items due to the fact that there wasn't enough money.

Not only that, mom never felt comfortable asking the few neighborhood moms who had their own cars for favors.

But, we kids never felt stuck or like we had to do without anything and it was all because our mom made it so we didn't have to, all thanks to her clever back-up plans!

Linzy is a certified Bible Counsellor, with countless republications on her viewers blogs, Bible Studies, Ezines and the like. Her portfolio includes, non-fiction articles, short stories for all ages, and Christian poetry.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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