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Wednesday, June 27, 2007 

Painful Childhood Memory

I'm at my parents' house. Yesterday I wanted to come up here, so I did. Because I can. I don't have any children, you know.

Last night I stayed at my sister's. The kids were in bed when I got there, but my sister and I stayed up until 4 a.m., which felt absolutely ridiculous even as we were doing it. At 10 p.m. I was begging her to stay up late with me, and at 3 a.m. I was begging her to let me go to sleep. I slept on the top bunk of Ryan's bed. At first I was a little freaked out because there was a ceiling fan blade two feet from my face, but I was too tired to worry about that for long. I woke up this morning at 9 to Ryan standing on the bottom bunk and beating my legs and screaming that he wanted me to get up and play a video game with him.

I had a bunk bed in my room for a while when I was a kid, and used to sleep on the top bunk. There was a ceiling fan that hung near the bed. We only had a window unit air conditioner at the time, and it was in my sister's bedroom at the end of the hall, so I always had a box fan in the floor and the ceiling fan on high. Late one night, I woke up suddenly and sat straight up in the bed. The ceiling fan whacked me in the side of the head, and knocked me off the bed. I fell and landed on the box fan, which whacked me on the ass a few times before it either stopped running or I rolled off of it. I was half asleep when this happened, so it was like I sat up, got knocked in the head, and next thing I knew I was being beaten on the ass by something. After the shock wore off, I started wailing for my mother.

She gave me some Benadryl and put me back in bed, head injury and all.

I forgive her though, because tonight she cooked me some fried chicken, home made mashed potatoes, green beans from her garden, and strawberry shortcake, and it was gud!

Back then, mothers thought Benadryl or Methiolate were the cures for any and every childhood malady. Those and Vicks VapoRub in the winter.

When I close my eyes, I can STILL smell the VapoRub.

Never got beat up by a fan, though.

Laugh now about the powers of Benadryl but when you have kids you too will be mixing Benadryl / Motrin cocktails for them before long car rides (or Christmas Eve, family reunions, naptime, whatever).

I had to laugh out loud at the mental picture of you getting knocked out of bed by one fan and then beaten in the arse by another!

Man, aren't mashed potatoes made by momma the best ever? I have been making mashed potatoes of my own for 14 years now and they ain't too shabby, but mine don't hold a candle to Moms.

Mrs. Coach is right - I have Benadryl caps in my purse, meltaway Benadryl in my van (just in case we don't have water and I refuse to pull over to sedate them) and we have two bottles in the medicine cabinet. I am not above a little sedation before car trips (or Christmas Eve, family reunions, naptime, whatever).

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