My mom and I talked a little while she was here about what age I’d been when I stopped taking her and my dad’s word as The Law.
Well, she said, I feel like you still agree with us on most things because we, for the most part, have the right opinions.
Right, right, I’d responded. But it’s more than that. It’s how I clean my counter and what sunglasses I buy. At some point they became my decisions because of experiences that I had had instead of decisions that you guys were making for me.
In the moment, I had a tough time coming up with specific examples. Honestly, my mom and I probably clean our counters the same way and go through a very similar process buying sunglasses. What do I do because of my own solo experiences and not because I’m the daughter of my (very wonderful, very great, very smart) parents?
Later in her visit, she asked if I had all the tools for her to take off her polish and clip her nails. I was - borderline - offended. Obviously I own everything someone would need to take off nail polish and clip their nails. To assume otherwise is a bit insulting.
She got to work clipping on my front patio, and at first I bit my tongue about how she was using them incorrectly. I have one of the nail clippers that catches the nails into the base of the contraption, limiting the mess. It didn’t really matter because she was clipping outside, but I finally relented and explained.
Oh. Wait. Wow, I really like this. She grinned as each clipping cleanly disappeared into the little pocket.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
It wasn’t until I was clipping my nails this morning that I put two and two together. I had switched over to this type of nail clipper because of a friend who owned them. And then I had introduced this new solo discovery to the woman who taught me how to clip my nails in the first place, potentially changing the way she’s been doing something for her entire life.
This post was not an ad. But if you’re curious about the nail clippers, here ya go.