February 15th, 2016

A Valentine “Surprise”

by Terri Libenson

Man, I had a lot of fun writing last week’s strips. This was a short series in which Jess discovers an old stash of Jill’s “memorabilia” from the kids’ early years.

There are no words. Well, okay, there’s one: Yuck.

In case you’re wondering, no, I have not kept my kids’ assorted body parts. Well, okay, I had a few of their baby teeth for years…but to my credit, I had forgotten about them and found ’em stashed in the bottom of a clothes drawer (gee, I wonder what sparked this story line idea). I promptly threw them away.

Well, okay. It wasn’t so prompt. For a moment, I thought about keeping them for the sake of sentimentality, but the yuck factor took hold (as well as my type A personality that can’t abide clutter). I also began wondering what my kids would think if I passed away and they found their old teeth in some moldy mason jar on the top shelf of my bedroom closet. Nothing complimentary comes to mind.

But to all those parents who cannot throw away such keepsakes (yes, even the umbilical cord…although, um, really?), I totally get it. They are a physical part of your “babies.” It’s hard to part with anything that sprouted from their little bodies.

So I empathize. I truly do.

Yuck factor and all.