While I realize this might be dating me, I remember the the comics where the kids always blamed everything on “not me.” When asked “Who did this?” the response was always “not me!” It was as if there were a little ghost called “Not Me” who was going around the house creating mischief. We had a Not Me at our house. He was a rather mischievous creature and was always getting me into trouble. Somehow, I thought when my brother turned 12, Not Me would leave my life forever. Not so.
Now that we have my grandmother living with us, Not Me has returned. He (I’m sure Not Me is a male, just because I think they create more mischief!) does the strangest things sometime. Honestly, the other day my husband found Gram at the table, a brand new loaf of banana bread open and a hole in it, as if someone had just dug out a piece with their hands. Nobody else was in the room. Yet, when I asked her why she did that, the response was, you guessed it! “I didn’t do that, somebody else did!” I think perhaps the mature name for Not Me has now become “Somebody Else.”
Somebody Else makes messes in the bathroom. Somebody Else empties food that Gram doesn’t eat into the waste basket beside her chair. Oh, and Somebody Else surely took all of those snack foods from the kitchen and put them on her tray! Funny thing is, Somebody Else is never around to clean up the mess, to get reprimanded for his antics, or to take any responsibility.
As I find myself in this generation who takes care of those who cared for me as a child, I am realizing just how frustrating it must have been for my mother to have Not Me around all the time. Still, even with Somebody Else, I am blessed. These times will create memories that we can look back on with fondness years down the road. In the meantime, I’m searching for Somebody Else so he can pick up the mess he just made in the living room! 🙂
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