I knew I had been a mom for too long when I pulled a crayon out of my purse and told the home center to mark the box so I knew which was mine.
I had ordered a new space heater for my mom’s room, for Christmas.
She had cactuses all over her room, and they needed more heat and less humidity than I cared to use in my house. I had a small house, and I didn’t need Zone Control until my mom moved in. I kept the house thermostat set at seventy, but she wanted it to be eighty in her room. She said she needed to keep it warmer and drier for her babies. I thought the best way to handle the situation was if I bought her a good space heater for her room. I bought the space heater for Christmas, but I noticed she had been looking for one. I didn’t want to give the space heater to her too early, but I didn’t want her to buy one either. My husband told me to give her a hint, and hope she stayed offline, but I didn’t know how to do this. Since mom was usually shopping online at night, my husband turned off the internet right after dinner. It seemed like a nasty thing to do, but it kept her from purchasing a space heater for herself, before Christmas. Two days before Christmas, a huge box arrived for my mom. She told me that since our internet wasn’t working well; she had called my sister and told her to order a new space heater for her. I could have kicked myself for not telling my sister I had already bought the space heater.