Shut up mom!! These words were found in our basement, written on the wall about four feet from the ground, right next to the electrical junction box.
Shut up mom -- carefully written, lower case m, no comma, two exclamation points at the end. Hard to believe I hadn't noticed it before; it's probably been there for at least 16 years.
Neither of the children has lived at home for many years. So ... a mystery voice from the past. But what prompted one of the kids to descend to the basement, pen in hand, to write "Shut up mom" on the wall? A response to a long-forgotten quarrel, to advice given once too often, to a thoughtless remark?
That terse little message brought back memories of the long and often difficult teenage years. I had always felt pretty good about how I'd ignored the rolled eyes, the long-suffering silences, the grumpiness. I'd tried not to sweat the small stuff and to take the long view.
OK, that's my point of view. Now, with the discovery of those words on the basement wall, I have to revisit that time, rethink my soft-focus view, and acknowledge the likelihood that my kids saw things very differently. And I get a new perspective on our relationship at that time
But now, I know I've gone on long enough. Shut up mom!!
I'm Deborah Booth, and that's my perspective.