Mum and I

Today our mini task at hand reaffirmed the fact that mum and I has strikingly different personalities. Mum was trying to find an appropriate plastic bag to place the spare mattress in. The spare mattress was limp on the floor, ill fitted in a plastic bag that was way too big for the mattress.

Mum approached me and asked whether I had smaller plastic bags to fit the mattress in. I looked across the room and my first thoughts were, “Why must the mattress be protected? Can’t we just dump it in the cupboard?” Knowing mum who is pretty meticulous, the answer would be a clear no. First point of difference.

“No, I don’t think we have such big plastic bags,” I replied.

Mum then takes an old bed sheet from the linen cupboard.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Since no bags can fit, I’ll wrap it up in old bed sheets.”

“But it’s so troublesome!” I protested. Second point of contradiction. I hate unnecessary hard labour. Imagine having to wash the old bed sheets.

I looked at the mattress and said to her, “Why can’t we just cut up the plastic bag?”

Mum retorted, “No. We might need such a huge plastic bag in the future.”

“I’ll figure out a solution when the necessity calls in the future. Anyway, how often do we need such big plastic bags,” I said. Mum likes to keep spare stuff around for “just-in-case” situations. I, on the hand, hates clutter. Sometimes, mum would buy a bag, shoes or clothes and keep it for months, till the right occasion arises. On the contrary, sometimes, I take my shoes off in the middle of the shopping centre and swap it for the ones I just bought. What’s the point of buying things if you are not going to use them? Instant gratification is so satisfying sometimes.

With much hesitation, mum agreed with my suggestion as that seemed like the most viable option.

So I took out my scissors and set out to cut up the plastic bag.

“Make sure you cut a straight line across,” mum said as she observed me.

“I’m certain it’s not going to be a straight line but it doesn’t matter anyway.” Fourth point of contradiction. Mum is a bit of a perfectionist which is great in many ways because you can almost be certain that if she does something, it will be a job well done. I on the hand, sometimes just want the job to be done. Who is going to notice whether it is a straight line or not. It’s just a plastic bag anyway.

With such clashing personalities, life has not always been peaceful. But as my wise (only sometimes) younger brother, the man of little words said, “Sometimes we need to compromise because at the end of the day, it is family that is of utmost importance.” I’m still learning that.