Do you have that one thing in your life that you treasure and would prefer to keep to yourself? That’s hard when you’re a mom and your family thinks everything that’s yours belongs to the whole family.
For my mom, it was her ironing board. We kids called it “the altar” because it was always set up and no one was allowed near it. We were trained from a very young age to give it a wide berth. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was allowed on top of it. The rest of the house could be a mess, but that ironing board was a shrine to cleanliness.
For one of my friends, her books are her treasures. She reads them carefully. They’re never set down with the pages open (you’ll break their spines) and heaven forbid you would “dog-ear” a page. She has them in a certain order and tries to keep them off-limits to the kids.
My sister-in-law has a collection of cute magnets on her fridge. A lot of thought has gone into their placement. My husband (her brother) loves to move them around just to see how fast she notices. Answer: very fast!
For some women, they cherish their shoes, their clothes or maybe they have their own secret drawer of chocolate. And, they do their best to keep these things to themselves.
For my daughter and me, it is our kitchen towels. We collect all kinds: pretty prints, funny ones and treasured embroidered heirlooms. We treat them like they are made of the finest linen and we cherish each one.
But, our husbands do not have the same appreciation for these little rectangles of beauty. No matter how much we yell and instruct, they use them to sop up grease, wipe dirty floors and stop blood flow (don’t ask). Even though we provide sponges and paper towels in convenient locations around the kitchen, the dainty, embroidered towels are yanked off of towel racks and used instead.
Apparently, treasured linens are the best choice when you need to wipe your greasy hands or clean other nasty messes. We keep trying, but we are close to admitting defeat (although, it does create the need to buy more!).
So, how about you? What do you treasure and how do you keep your things safe from kids (and husbands)?
