Easy As Falling Off A Bike pt 971.

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Wuthering Dormice
(aka Bike)
Part 971
by Angharad

Copyright © 2010 Angharad
All Rights Reserved.
  
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Monday came and we got back to normal–I know it’s a relative a term, but as far as normal goes, we went back to it. This meant five out of six children back in school and Julie and I slaving over a large farmhouse.

Her ironing skills had improved significantly, and I was trying to teach her some basic cooking. I decided that it was probably better for her to poison Stella and me, than to kill the whole family, so she made lunches from now on. This meant planning the menu, purchasing the items and then cooking it.

She had to check the fridge or store cupboard every few days to make sure she had everything that was necessary and did she complain. “This is like, so unfair, I don’t see you checking your cupboard every time you make dinner.”

“I know what’s in there.”

“How come you do and I don’t?”

“I’ve been doing it longer than you.”

“Did your mother make you do this?”

“Not quite, but then she didn’t plan on raising a daughter, she was teaching a son to be independent–I’m teaching you to be both independent and skilled enough to run a house if you need to.”

“Maybe I’ll be a lesbian and get my partner to do it all.”

“That sounds like a boy talking.” It was a little sharp of me, but if she wants to be a girl, she has to take her medicine like one. I may be somewhat stereotyped, but most men leave the bulk of housework to their female partners.

“Oh,” she blushed, “I suppose it did.”

“That’s fine, if you want to be a boy again–it’s okay with me and I’m sure the others would adapt after a few weeks.”

“Be a boy again? Oh, Mummy, no I don’t want that.”

“Well in which case I shall treat you like a girl.”

“Yes please.”

“So plan your menu, check your cupboards and get on with it.”

“Yes, Mummy,” she sighed.

There are loads of girls who can barely make tea, let alone make a dinner or bake a cake. Housework is derided these days–everyone has to be too important to do it, get in some poor thing from down the road to do it for you. So what happens if you can’t work the vacuum cleaner or the washing machine, or you favourite blouse or bra needs washing and drying? Or horror upon horror, a button comes off–if you don’t know where the mending kit is or can’t thread a needle–you are stuck.

So many people can’t be bothered, so they donate to Oxfam rather than repair things–no wonder the world is in such a mess. We’d rather throw something worth tens or hundreds of pounds away, than sit down for half an hour and mend it.

After an early lunch of omelettes and salad, which was pretty good; we did an hour’s sewing. I’m teaching Julie to make dolls clothes, so that will involve using or even making patterns, cutting out, tacking and sewing and knitting or crocheting. I think she’d rather push the vacuum cleaner round, it takes less concentration. It’s certainly easier to teach students biology than Julie sewing.

At two, I stood up and popped on some lipstick and brushed my hair. “Have you got your list?”

“Um–I haven’t had time to do it, Mummy.”

“Why not–I know what I need to replace or top up for the dinners and breakfasts.”

“You said you’d had more practice.”

“And you, young lady, have two minutes before I go to the supermarket, I’d hurry if I were you.”

“Why can’t we have sandwiches for lunch?” she grumbled in the car as I drove to the shops.

“We can, but you’ll need to have lots of variations in bread and fillings.”

“Why not a pack of ham and a sliced loaf?”

“Fine, but you can eat it all yourself.”

“It would be cheaper.”

“Yes, I did it for three years at university–at the end of the month, I was often living on toast, with the occasional tin of beans.”

“Well you turned out alright.”

“So do you want to learn to live very frugally or develop housekeeping skills?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you want to live like a student, that can be arranged, I’ll give you a couple of pounds a day to live on and you can do all your cooking, and I’ll look after the rest.”

“But Daddy gives me enough to mean that isn’t necessary.”

“I can arrange for him to stop that, I’ll call him when we get to the shop.”

“No, please don’t, Mummy. I need the money for clothes and things.”

“If you’re living frugally, you can’t afford new stuff, you have to do charity shops or make changes to old stuff.”

“No thanks.”

“It’s what happens in wartime, when supplies are short. We’ve become too dependent upon waste, far too fickle for novelty and change.”

“Well, you’re always buying clothes.”

“Not as many as you, girl,” I knew my wardrobe was much bigger than hers, I’d been collecting it for longer and some of it was still Stella cast-offs.

“I think it’s unfair, the boys aren’t bullied as much as me.”

“The boys are still in school, but they do chores when they’re home and they get a bit of training too. I want them to be able to cope with looking after themselves if they go away from home, such as college or university.”

“But they could end up marrying a girl or living with one who does it all differently.”

“So, that’s for them to sort out.”

“What if I live with a boy who likes to do housework?”

“Then you give thanks and grab him quickly, but you may well find there’s a reason why he likes housework.”

“Like what?”

“Think about it–here we are, come on we’ll have to get a move on or we’ll be late collecting the three mouseketeers.”

We grabbed a trolley and entered the emporium–the temple of consumerism. “Where’s your list, Mummy?”

“In my head–I know what we’re eating, and what I need to get. Where’s yours?”

“Um–in the kitchen,” she looked very embarrassed.

“Oh well, let’s see how much you can remember.” It was actually in my pocket, she’d forgotten it and I picked it up as we left. I’d give it to her afterwards, but I wanted her to deal with a bit of pressure. Prioritising, time management and so on are useful in everything. Later on, when she gets better at it, I’ll give her a budget to manage as well. By that time she’ll be able to look after a house or even The House, perhaps as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

We were concentrating on her shopping, I’d finished mine and I’d given her the list she’d forgotten and were debating over the pros and cons of plain flour over corn flour for sauce making, when I saw her father turn into our aisle. It was not what I would have chosen to happen, especially as we needed to collect the girls. I pretended not to notice him but he saw us and headed straight for us.

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Comments

Great, just what Cathy and

Great, just what Cathy and Julie need right now; a self-absorbed, abusive, totally out of control, self-rightous, father, (you can tell I really like him right? :), once more butting into their lives. I do hope Cathy is able to avert his wrath regarding Julie to something else. Maybe her 'blue light'/'white light' will have a different power available for her this time. Jan

Liberty

Why is that hateful murderer at liberty? Shouldn't he have been sent up on assault, at least? Oh, right. Cathy didn't want to admit she saved Julie's life with her magical powers and blamed all the blood on a nosebleed, much to the annoyance of the police.

She even later saved the bastard's life in the hospital after a car wreck. I don't suppose the Blue Light would let her summon up a coronary infarct for him now if he's still abusive?

UPDATE: I can't remember, but wasn't there at least talk of getting an order of protection from Julie's parents? Whatever happened with that?

Oh, Oh!

Get out of there kid. It's either find a friendly security guard or get ready with the blue light.
Can the light be used for defence or only for healing?
As for teaching Julie the basics of home-keeping well there's still a gender thing here.
Boys can live in s--t and usually do. Cathy's got her work cut out teaching Julie the real tricks of womanhood.

I'm loving this.

Can't wait to see what happens beteeen 'crazy - dad' and the shopping duo.

Still loving it,
Love and hugs,

Bev.

Uh-oh

Get ready Cathy. This could get ugly since he chose to proceed on to you. Make lots of noise, and run if you have to.

Oh Horror of horrors!

Just what poor Julie does NOT need. That was wicked of you, Angharad. And now we all have to wait until tomorrow to find out how Cathy the Superwoman rescues them. Grrrrrrrr!

Briar

Briar

You and your....

darned cliffs. Yet another one you've provides us.

But, let's back up a bit... My mom had little to no clue about cooking, house keeping, etc. when she got married. (There are stories about starched/ironed boxers.) Luckily my dad had been brought up to do some things around the house (& out camping) so they managed to survive the early years... She became quite an amazing cook (and probably still would be, had depression not shut her down for amany years). But, despite thinking she had two boys to raise, she made sure both knew how to vacuum, dust and the minimum on laundry. My brother and I learned most of our early cooking through the "Boy Scouts" though... Uncle Sam taught me how to Iron, among other practical chores (whether I wanted to learn them or not). So, when I was off on my own, I was able to manage fairly well. I could follow a recipe and have a meal turn out OKAY. No, I couldn't generally modify it to "make it better" or such. One important skill I never learned was to use the sewing machine.

Getting married provided a distribution of labor (well, at least when we lived in the same state - we spent the first 5.5 years of our marriage living over 200 miles apart, but that's a different story). She's an AWESOME cook! Neither of us LOVE cleaning, so we end up pitching in and getting it all done, together, as fast as possible. I tend to do the vacuuming and dishes, while she gets the bathrooms & does cooking. All generalities. We both do minor mending of clothing, though anything needing the machine, she does (which has included making gowns from patterns and the like). Once there's time, she's told me she'll teach me... Now that she knows I'm interested and I don't have to pretend otherwise. Laundry - whoever gets there does it... Though, I do all of the ironing in the house. The daughters have picked up the cooking and the older one's getting pretty good at sewing, but neither one is any more enamored of cleaning than the wife or I. The wife & I joke that they'll both have to be rich, to afford the staff they'll need to take care of them. (Not REALLY true, but, it does sound good.)

I'm really glad Cathy's insuring that the kids all learn things they need to be self sufficient at more than basic subsistence level. I just wish Simon were available to help out more. I have this biased view that BOTH parents SHARE the responsibility in caring for and teaching the kids.

Now, back to that cliff you tried to shove us over there at the end. I can see the thing going more than one way. The dad COULD be a total bigot and make a scene. OR, what I think would be more challenging, he could turn out to be a human, having been at least partially healed by Cathy and actually GLAD his child is alive, happy and healthy. Perhaps being out, away from his wife is helping him? She was certainly the more VOCAL of the two. Food for thought, when I should be working...

Thanks,
Annette

Bike pt 971

Why do I get the feeling that Julie will discover something about herself? And why do I see Cathy trouncing the cad?

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Ouch!

Unfortunately it's daytime on a weekday, which means the supermarket is likely to be fairly quiet. And to make matters worse, they're not near the checkouts or in the liquor aisle (the two areas covered by CCTV). Hopefully Cathy will place herself between Julie and Bradley, and if necessary remember the kickboxing skills Stella's taught her...

Meanwhile, a nice bit of "tough love" from Cathy - reminding Julie that she can't expect to be waited on hand and foot forever, so learning to be self-reliant is A Good Thingâ„¢.

 


There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...

As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

I was just going

to make a comment how much i loved the way that Cathy was giving Julie life skills.....And them i read the last paragraph..... Well i suppose Julie's father could be coming to thank Cathy for saving his life... Somehow though i don't think that's too likely...Perhaps though he should think again before attacking Julie, Given that Cathy will protect any of her flock with ferocity,

Maybe the safest and most sensible thing to do for his health, Would be to turn around and walk away, But given his track record so far, Sensible is not a word he understands!!

Kirri

Julie

I wonder how long it's going to take Julie to appreciate the "on the job" training she's receiving—probably past the end of her teenage years.

I've got to admire the "drop them down a cliff" skills of our esteemed author and her sidekick. It all happens in the last two sentences of the last paragraph, and I certainly didn't see it coming. For him to be there, has he been following Cathy and Julie?

We aren't told which particular "emporium" or "temple of consumerism" this is. If it's Morrison's then Cathy certainly has a relationship with the security guards (or are they only there at holiday weekends?) and management from previous incidents, and there are CCTV cameras.

After this situation is resolved, Cathy and Julie should ensure that Julie's self-defence skills are developed, as well as her homemaking ones.

Potential Strife


Bike Archive

Veg

In the trolley—not Julie's father! I wonder what veg or potential weapons Cathy has at hand?

I remember her laying out some thug with a cabbage in the past. When Cathy's around, anything is a potential weapon, though of course it may not be required in this instance.

Potent Savoy


Bike Archive

Got enough blue light to make lightning?

Does the bloody fool remember cutting Julie's throat? Does he think that she would forget? Didn't he have a heart attack or something? Maybe it is wishful thinking on my part. How did he get out of Jail? After my last week with the righteous, I am not feeling sympathetic toward him.

Gwen

You know...

I'm getting to rather like this cliff. I keep discovering new birds...

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Abby

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Poor Cathy

Puddintane's picture

Had to walk ten miles through the arctic blizzards to school and back, and it was uphill both ways. And then there was selling matches on the corner for a penny a packet from one in the morning until midnight whilst the neighbours competed to see who could throw the most slops on her head, not to mention dumping the odd chamber pot. If she was lucky, they kept hold of the pot.

She's being a perfect pill to poor Julie, who obviously hasn't had the best upbringing, and has been multiply traumatised, very nearly to death, besides.

Mary Poppins, she's not.

Cheers,

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Hadn't seen that one...

Puddintane's picture

Mind you, *we* had it *much* worse than *that*.

Cheers,

Puddin'

Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs...
-- Father Williams

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Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Interesting,

Wasn't there a restraining order or some such? I suspect his wife is a very sick woman by now.

Get your kick-boxing shoes ready

The Queen of the Dangling Cliff Hanger strikes again !!
Why is this guy walking around, and not in jail ?
At the least, he tried to slice his daughter's throat. Is this Massachusetts ?
So, which one was Monte ? 8-)

Cefin