Mindless Mumsie

I was cruising around our neighborhood Costco yesterday, when my cell phone rang.

"Mumsie?"

My girls call me Mumsie. I love it. They started calling me Mumsie about ten years ago when I would muscle my way into their faces when they were arguing. I'd force them to tell each other I'm Sorry! and then air-kiss. While saying Sistah! Dahlink! Mwah! Mwah! AND stand on one foot while bending the knee of the other leg and pointing their toe. Kind of like this:

I still can't believe that they actually did it. Every time. I told them that they WOULD love each other and they WOULD be best friends. Or I would sit on them.

So then they decided that they needed to get me involved in the air-kissing thing, so they would say Mumsie Dahlink! Mwah! Mwah! just so I wouldn't feel left out.

Awwwww.

Anyway, I've been Mumsie ever since. Now where was I going with this.....oh, right-o. The phone call.

So my oldest daughter called me today while I was shopping and excitedly told me what I had been suspecting for a week or so: that she had decided to move. As in to a different city. AND a different state. I had been hearing all about her interviews with this new company and at some cerebral level understood that if she chose to accept this job offer it would be good for her career and finances.

But.....I hadn't really acknowledged it in my heart.

She would be the first of my kids to live farther than a few hours' drive in Goldie. Much, much farther. I have been so spoiled in that all three of them have stayed relatively close to home.

Until now.

So as I listened to Daughter talk and describe this wonderful job offer and salary and benefit package and stock options, I suddenly felt very strange. I plopped down on a very conveniently located lawn chair in the Home and Garden aisle while I tried to pay attention to our conversation and make sense of my emotions.

Honey, I am so proud of you! Of course I'd love to go with you to pick out a new apartment....Yes, yes, it's so exciting! Well, with your new salary you can afford to put Dad and I and Terese and Greg in a REALLY NICE nursing home someday, chuckle chuckle....And I want one of those scooters, too, hehe....Oh my gosh, I can hardly believe it, either...Love you too, sweetie.

After she hung up, I stood up and pushed my shopping cart around in a daze. The things that I wanted to say to her thankfully remained unspoken: WHAT? You'd leave your old mother and father? You'd ABANDON us here and move two whole states away?? Sob....whimper....whineeeeee. 

Yes. I know. This was a great opportunity for her and two states away really isn't that far. I was just being a big old whineybutt about it all but I wouldn't let her know that...

I drifted around the store giving myself a mental kick in the pants for another half an hour and then found myself in one of the checkout lines. I realized with a shock that my shopping cart was full.

Good grief. Where did all this stuff come from??

Underwear? And THREE BOXES of band-aids? Make-up remover? What's IN that stuff? I hardly ever even wear makeup....MORE sunscreen?

(Notice the Kleenex box in the picture? OK - raise your hand if YOUR husband would buy Cars Kleenex for your bathroom. On purpose.)

(I love him because he's so weird. Back to my whining...)

Oh, man, I can hardly believe I put this in my cart.....Full Bars??? What the heck is a Full Bar?? FOUR toothbrushes? Vibrating ones? Well, that's just too bizarre....

I shook my head in disbelief as the cashier had everything out of my cart and rung up before I could wade through my foggy brain to decide which - if any - of this stuff I actually wanted to pay for. I mindlessly swiped my debit card and made my way to the car.

I think it's a good thing that Daughter called me in the aisle that she did. Would have been much more dangerous if I had been anywhere near the bakery.