Several months ago the Kindergartener “accidentally” let her candy heart Valentine’s bracelet slip down the tub drain. This might seem inconsequential, but last week {some five months later} the tub completely stopped draining. For the health of our marriage the Spouse and I no longer attempt DIY solutions to problems of this sort. So, I called a plumbing company and had them send a plumber to evaluate the situation. Typically I’m the one home during the week to handle service calls, so I’m used to the routine. But, this call was special.
For starters, the plumber looked so young I wasn’t sure he should be driving the truck. He was prompt, courteous, and professional but seemed nervous as if he might be new to the job. After his initial inspection of the tub he politely called me to the scene and presented me with two potential solutions. The first one cost more than $600 {plus the service fee} and involved running a commercial hose from the yard through the second story window to flush out the drain for approximately two hours. The second option cost a little over $300 and would fix the problem but was sure to be less efficient. Strangely, though, when I had him call the Spouse and discuss the situation over the phone a third option emerged that “might work” and would cost just a little over $100.
Obviously we went with the third option, and it appears to have fixed the problem.
Now, I realize I’m not particularly intimidating and don’t know a lot about plumbing. But, I’ve watched a good bit of HGTV. And, $600 is more than the bathtub itself cost. I may not know what a pressure reducing valve is, and I may be distracted by three hungry children and a dog who is barking incessantly because there’s a stranger in the house. But, I’m not that gullible.
I told the girls the lesson here is threefold: 1) Don’t put your jewelry down the drain, 2) Don’t ever go with the first “solution,” and 3) Watch enough HGTV to at least know how much things like tubs and sinks cost.
Sigh. Hold onto your bracelets in the tub.
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On an unrelated note the girls are starting to get excited about who their teachers will be in the new school year. The six-year-old is still at that endearing age where she thinks her parents can do and be anything. So yesterday in the car we were discussing the new teachers and how fun it will be to see which classroom they get assigned to in a few weeks:
Kindergartener: Momma, you should be a teacher!
Me: No, I’ve told you before that your mother is not a teacher.
5th Grader: Yeah. She’d have to drink so much coffee by the end of the day.
3rd Grader: No, it would be worse. She’d be drunk.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
The summer always reminds me that I wouldn’t be good at managing a classroom of kids, but I feel like the 3rd Grader has an especially low view of my patience right now. I love how my children keep me humble.
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One final thought… I read a short article a few weeks ago from the On Being Project about an exercise you can do called “Our 200-year present.” It sounds strange at first, but the point of this thought experiment is to realize how far the influence of each one of us stretches across time. What you do first is think of the oldest person who held you as a baby and recall their birth year. In my case, I think that would be my maternal great-grandfather Charlie who was born in 1895. Then, think of the youngest person in your family that you’ve held. Again, in my case that would be my nephew, also named Charlie, who was born in 2017 and is nine months old.
The point of the exercise is to realize “You were held and touched, and your life will touch the lives, of people that cover a 200-year present.” {Elise Boulding}
When my great-grandfather was born five years before the turn of the century, Grover Cleveland was President. Charlie lived through World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. For a season in his life he was a streetcar driver in Kansas City. Amazingly, he was struck by lightning in the attic of his home when he was 69, but he survived and lived until he was 84. My only memory of him is sitting in his lap and playing with his pocket watch, but my mom and uncle can still recount many fascinating stories of him.
My nephew is just beginning his story, and it will be the year 2102 when he is 85. That’s more than 200 years between the birthdate of my great-grandfather and the lifetime of my youngest nephew. It’s mind-blowing in a fascinating way when you think of how much living history we have access to in our family tree. We can be connected to the other generations even if we aren’t sharing space with them. The stories of our great-grandparents can have as much or as little bearing on the futures of our great-grandchildren and great-nieces and nephews as we allow them to have. We just have to keep those stories alive.
I have a few favorites, and I bet you do, too!
Loved the plumbing story–especially, because just in the last week, we were faced with a leakage problem that could have ended up in (I said hundreds–My son said thousands. . . of Dollars). It was so nice that upon 2nd examination that the 2nd opinion was, that it was a “one time fluke'” and diggigng up across the pool room would not be necessary! Whew! What a relief. Maybe you could have a “Jewelry check” before each bath. ha. I was traveling from Ft. Lauderdale by car to TN, and was wearing a ‘gold ring’ presented for GA accomplishment. Stupidly I took it off to wash my hands in Valdosta, GA, and we were several miles north before I discovered it. (Why would anyone take off a plain gold ring?) ha I loved your description of your plumber!