It’s a Manson Family Christmas. …

I always called my family The Mansons. I don’t know why. It just seemed to fit. We don’t have swastikas or anything tattooed to our foreheads, but we’re a strange bunch, admittedly. So we’re the Manson Family.

Mom was whining that I spend soooo much time with my friends that I don’t spend any time making memories with her (uh, I only saw one friend during my five-day stay, but whatever). But there’s one memory that I just HAVE to share and record for posterity:

My grandfather was supposed to do dishes the other night. There were only four dishes and two glasses in the sink, but still, Mom’s all OCD and can’t have a speck of dirt or a filthy dish in the house (even though I had soaked the dishes, she’s militant about having her house be immaculate). I used to be that way, at my old apartment — she taught me well. But at any rate, she was very angry at him for letting the dishes sit for a few hours (I’d had to pick something up at Leslie’s house, and I’d invited Mom along for the ride to Fox Chapel, and I also took her to see Kaufmann’s windows). So, when he saw us coming in the house, he scurried to the sink to do dishes, but she was furious.

What did she do? She flung the plates, one by one, into the trash.

Her china is older than I am, BTW. But she’d had it, and this wasn’t the first time he’d slacked on his single household chore — She was so annoyed that those dishes were sitting in the sink in her clean house that she tossed them like frisbees across the room. I loved it. Poor Maddie was sitting in the kitchen, waiting for her hourly feeding (because she’s a little piggy when she goes to Grandma’s house), and she wasn’t sure whether to run or to see if there were any food left on those plates.

Personally, I’m not sure if Mom ever removed the dishes from the trash, as she took the garbage out to the curb 15 minutes later, and I was too afraid to ask. But that’s a technique to consider adopting — if you hate seeing dirty dishes in the sink, pitch them. 🙂 Then there are no more dishes to worry about. lol. She’s such a creative problem solver! And I’ll bet that by the time I go back for Easter, there will be nothing but paper plates and plastic sporks in the house. Stay tuned for THAT update. … 😉

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