Thanks to Kaye for helping me drum up this memory!I think I was about 12 years old. I don't remember how it exactly happened. Maybe she wasn't feeling well. Perhaps she was depressed. Maybe she was just sick and tired of the seven of us kids not listening to her or doing our chores or something. Because one day, my mom went on strike.
That's right. I said she went on strike.
She basically said, "You wanna eat it? You make it. You need it cleaned? You wash it. I will be in my room. So Do Not Disturb Me! I'm ON STRIKE!"
It was pretty funny - cuz a lady from the church called.
Church Lady: "Hi. May I please speak to your mother?"
Me: "No, I'm sorry. My mom isn't available."
CL: "Oh. Ok. When will she be available?"
Me: "I dunno. She's on strike."
CL: "I'm sorry, what? She's where?"
Me: "She's on strike. No cooking. No Cleaning. No driving us anywhere, and No phone calls. The sign says Do Not Disturb. She's On Strike."
CL: [brief pause] "Is she sick?"
Me: "I dunno. I just know she's on strike."
CL: "Ummm..." [stammers] "Ok. I guess I'll talk to her on Sunday - if she's not still on strike, that is."
Me: "Ok. Bye."
So, when my Mom returned from being "On Strike" I told her about the call. She laughed. Then when she and the lady talked about it - guess what the lady said!?!?!?!
She said, she got to thinking about it and how her own 8 kids weren't listening and were fighting, etc. So SHE went on stirke too! They both laughed pretty hard about that one. One more reason my mom is one of my heroes!
18 comments:
It is a thankless job!
Ha! this is great!!!
We all should do it one day :)
Santa came early and left a gift for you on my blog. I know it's a busy week but if you can, come on over!
Merry Christmas
i can't go on strike, yet. child services would call it neglect. anyway, i do not remember this at all. i guess if you were 12 then i would have been 5 or 6. i can't believe the other mom did this, though. her kids would have been young. well, from the discription of being from church with 8 kids, i think i know who you're talking about.
Is that were my mom got this... No I'm kidding...But I bet if she would have been the one to call that day we would have been the one washing and cleaning the next day! But it does sound like a good idea!
toooo funny! i've done that to my kids before, but my anal retentiveness drove me crazy before i could really make too much of a statement...oh well!
that is tooo funny!!! I love it!
I actually remember my mom doing this too!
And now, it doesn't seem like such a bad idea;)
I went on strike last year for about a week. I took care of the little ones (fed, changes, bathing)but didn't do anything for the older ones and washed nothing, cleaned nothing.
The mess was SO bad that my neatnik self was going batty inside. As soon as dh got home I'd barricade myself in the bedroom and then finally when there were no clean dishes i thought they'd HAVE to crack and clean something up. But here's the thing-nobody else minds the mess. I finally left with a good book and hung out at the library for 8ish hours and came home to a semi-clean house. dh didn't care about the mess but knew it bugged me so he made the kids help. So I don't know that I'd call it a success but I think next time I go on strike I'm LEAVING to a clean hotel room with room service. Ahhhh it sounds so good!
I might just go on strike today. Wait, it is 12:48 in the afternoon and I am still in my bathrobe. I guess that I am well on my way...
Glad to help!
Too funny. My mom never did anything fun like that. She was all serious all the time.
The idea hit me when the children were being so disagreeable and disobedient that I was at my wits end. I did not want to resort to beating them and I knew I would blow a gasket if I should start to yell.
The time was during a vacation from school, ergo no need to monitor bed times, etc. The older ones knew how to take care of the little ones (especially with
"Little Mother" and the OLDEST one in the house) and they were all potty-trained. Food was in the fridge and plenty of milk and kool-aid on hand. I could hear the living room talk and bedroom talk from my room. Kitchen talk was a little more difficult, but if they talked loud enough....
I was in the house and availble for emergencies, should they arise, but basically the children needed to learn to get along with each other, take care of one another, and take care of their own things.
At the end of 3 days I was a little more appreciated, they had learned to settle arguments and disagreements on their own, and
when I asked them to pick up or clean something they were a little bit more eager to do it.
Don't know if it would fly today. But I do think that the children know they are part of a family. All members working for the common good and every one is a valued member.
And though this may come too late: Sorry for warping you.
Can I go on strike even if I am not a mom?!?!?! I guess I will have to wait.
What a great idea!! The key is to get back off strike. My mom went on strike and never did another thing again. She took it waaaaaaay to far.
lol i think moms everywhere should go on strike at least 3 days a month! lol
I have heard of this before. It is an interesting idea, but one I think could backfire if someone is not carefull about it.
Kids definitely need to learn how hard it is to keep a house in order and functioning.
So, I am wondering if this post is a lead up to an impending strike of your own?
Too funny! Moms definitely deserve their own time!
Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad from Colombia!
I love it! I'll have to keep this in my "Mommy Arsenal"! :)
yah! i think that ALL mom's go on strike at one point. i know that my mom did. and i'm pretty sure that somewhere down the road, I will too---let's start a club! :)
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