Thursday, February 14, 2013

Abbott and Costello: The Grey T-Shirt Routine


Me: Have you seen my long-sleeve grey t-shirt?

11yo: No, I don’t have one.

Me: No, that’s not what I asked.

11yo: Oh. What did you ask?

Me: Have you seen my long-sleeve grey t-shirt?

Granted, I immediately realized that this could be somewhat confusing because at the time I was WEARING a long-sleeve grey t-shirt…I have two, thank you very much. They're different. I'm certain you would agree if given a side-by-side comparison.

11yo: Um…no.

No indication was made that he even noticed I was wearing one or that my question might somehow be confusing.

Me: And I don’t mean the one I’m wearing.

11yo: Oh. I didn’t notice.

Me: OK, so do you have my OTHER long-sleeve grey t-shirt?

11yo: No! I don’t have a long-sleeve grey t-shirt.

Me: No…that’s not what I asked. Do you have MY long sleeve grey t-shirt?

11yo: Ummm…no.

Me: Well, could you look?

11yo: I don’t have it.

Me: Are you sure?

11yo: Yes…

He was very confused at this point, and thought that I was somehow accusing him of taking my clothes.

Me: No, clearly I don’t mean ‘Did you take it?’… I mean ‘Do you have it by mistake maybe?’

11yo: No.

Me: Are you sure?

11yo: Yes.

Me: Would you please check? Because I can’t find it anywhere and it’s been gone for over a week…I’ve done laundry since then…

At this point, I must interject this additional information…he and I are getting to the point at which we are close to wearing the same size in some things, and basic clothing (such as a long-sleeve grey t-shirt) can very easily get put in the wrong stack of clothing when a different person is helping with the folding.

By no means am I implying that I am the same size as my child…maybe in height but definitely not build. But God love him…he does have my broad shoulders, so he probably wears a larger size than he would otherwise…in fact, Mr. Always Random and I both have broad shoulders so the kid probably wasn’t going to be able to avoid it.

11yo: OK… I’ll check.

11yo: (About 30 seconds later, and handing me the shirt) Here…sorry.

Me: Thanks…where was it?

11yo: In my drawer.

Me: So, just curious…do you actually LOOK at the clothes you are given or just mindless shove them in a drawer?

11yo: (Eye roll)

And scene…

Addendum: In a previous conversation relating to my 11yo and I, and our clothes, we were discussing the fact that I had actually taken one of the sweatshirts belonging to my 11yo and had claimed it as my own. Hey – if you could fit into a sweatshirt of your child’s wouldn’t you claim it too? 

The point of this discussion being simply this: he likes to harass me about the sweatshirt but I guarantee that if I gave it back he would never wear it because his mother has worn it. In public even! Gasp!

In this conversation, my 9yo jumped in, “Hey mom, you wear his sweatshirts…maybe he could wear some of your clothes! Wouldn’t it be funny if he started wearing your bras?”

Ummmm, without going into great detail, I think that would be something other than funny…disconcerting is the word which comes to mind, actually. 

And thanks for that visual.

Of course I responded, “No! I don’t think that would be funny! And I guarantee that he does not want to wear my clothes…especially not my bras.”

“Oh, yeah, I know. Sorry. I probably shouldn’t have said that. Where is my filter?”

I wish I knew, kid…

1 comment:

  1. I did NOT see the 9yo comment coming! I snorted. Funny stuff! We have the same laundry problem when my hubs folds clothes, except he gives my 15yr old who wears a size 0 (that actually is not a size I tell her all the time!) and gives them to me, (not a size 0 FAR from a 0, far from both 0 at the beginning of counting... ) she will come to me with a shirt or I will pull out her pants. Seriously I'm flattered that my husband things my waist is actually the size of my one leg. I guess love is blind! He also mixes up the little girls too, but when they are a size 2 and a size 5 there is a difference. The boys he is spot on when sorting and folding. Oh and still laughing about his suggestion!
    j

    ReplyDelete