Deja Vu and the Carpet

It's finally happened. My kids have turned into my sister and I when we were little and I, in turn, have turned into my mother.

So ... we finally got new carpet in the front of the house, up and down the stairs and in the new computer/office/utility room that we just finished remodeling (THAT story is for another time-when you want to read about me repainting a room at least five times before the correct color was finally decided upon).

I am in love with the new carpet because the other carpet was SO awful, I didn't even like to take off my shoes - and those of you that know me very well, know that I NEVER wear shoes in the house.

the old stuff *yuck* see the stains?

Years of living with a Dutch OCD woman as well as spending some time in Thailand will cure you of ever wearing shoes in the house. And there is good reason for that. All the crap and oil and dirt and gum and whatever else is out there is being dragged in on the bottom of the shoe. How gross. I even wipe the paws of the dogs (if it's been raining) before they come in and they can only come in from the back door now. the new stuff (but this is a horrible pic; I'll get a better one later)

This carpet has to last a few years and there's no use ruining it one month after putting it in.

So now I'm very careful to watch the shoe thing as well as the food thing.

However, I've let down my guard (a bit) about the food thing. The kids are not little (*sniff-I miss my babies) anymore and know how to eat carefully. Thomas actually drops more food than the kids.

So today, I'm getting ready to go to the transfer station with a garbage load in the truck. The kids are home from school (teacher-bull-inservice day) and taking it easy. I walk over to Robee on the couch to say goodbye and I step in something wet, yucky and sticky. Then I spy a glass with the residue of orange juice.

I look at Robee and he gets this deer-in-the-headlights kind of look and screeches, "Felix told me not to tell you she spilled orange juice on the floor!" He threw Felix under the bus in 3.4 seconds.

I go to Felix who's working on a speech for class on Monday and she sees me with the same headlight eyes and she screeches, "I didn't want to tell you cuz I knew you'd be mad since it's new carpet and I wiped it all up with cleaner and it was only a little!"

Thomas comes up and says, "We're both mad because this is brand new carpet and we need to know so we can get it cleaned up right," and I nod my head and add my two cents in too.

But then all of the sudden, I'm taken back to the days of my mom and when Lisa or I would do something that we KNEW would completely make my mom go ballistic and how we would try to cover it up or make sure she never knew about the incident (like the hurling Almond Roca in the kitchen that we never found or the Coke on the ceiling which she did find and was livid).

So I say, "I realize you cleaned it up as best you could but I need to get the steam cleaner on it and get it out because there's sugar in it. I'm actually more mad that you don't tell me. Tell me right away and I'll be a little pissed but at least I can get it cleaned up and move on."

And then I start to laugh thinking of all the things we did and what we hid from Mom so she wouldn't get mad at us ........... and I'm still chuckling as I haul out the steamer and suck out the sticky orange juice.




Just DON'T let it happen again.