Since I got a little bit older a few weeks back I have been wondering what exactly I have learned since the last time I got a little bit older. I would have to say, in general, not much. That’s probably not at all true but it really doesn’t feel like I have learned much. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention.
Jules and I decided a long time ago that there is a certain point in a woman’s life when she must be presented with a magical book of wisdom. You know the one. The one that has all that information that your mother and grandmother had but couldn’t explain where it came from. Like how your mom knew that you were cold and should put a sweater on. It must all be written down somewhere and I would like to know when I get to see it because I feel like I am missing out on something.
I suppose that I learned a lot of important things from my elders. How to cook, how to (ahem) clean, how to be a good and tolerant person (I'm trying! I swear!). But where is all that other stuff?
Why did my grandmother know that barley holds heat and therefore urged me to be careful when eating vegetable barley soup? Where is all that information stored?
4 comments:
you have to have children to get the knowledge, it grows in your womb and then comes out with the baby, with that cheesy crap on their skin. you can't wash it off, so mothers of adopted children get the knowledge from the skin off the adopted ones. being married to a child doesn't count. sorry. and put your shoes on right now. where do you think you are, at home?
In my experience, you can get a little of it from being married to, well, what's a nice way of putting this...being married to a certain kind of person - my intuition has kicked up a few notches over the last 3 years (I'm trying not to say "I'm married to a child" because I'm not, but he's younger and I'm a bit set in my ways - you do the math).
That said, you and I will just have to try to borrow other people's copy of the Big Book Of Women's Knowledge (there's a book cover for you to work on) if we're not having kids. I already tried the library - it's out on loan and there's a long waiting list.
Well, I'll stay dumb thankyouverymuch. Once again, those of us who choose not to breed get the short end of the stick. As if I wasn't discriminated against in my workplace enough...now I find out I'm going to be stupid forever. Great.
Naw Jodi, you have a hamster, that's enough. It's the nurturing thing that is usually associated with child rearing but not exclusively. As soon as you get to the state where you start paying more attention to other people's every need than you do to your own, you've got it, and you know all about the barley.
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