A Point for the Keeper

Perhaps I will start a little contest with my husband. He, the keeper of things, will be awarded a point for each and every item we keep about the house that eventually serves some purpose. I, the non-keeper of things, will be awarded a point for each and every item we keep around the house and never once use for any purpose. Of-course, you can never be sure when you will need something, so I won’t be able to fairly claim my points until we are both dead and gone, which takes some of the fun out of it. And, there are a lot of areas where the awarding of points gets a little gray. Should Mike, for example, get points for things we keep that serve no functional or aesthetic purpose but do perhaps give us peace of mind or happiness just knowing they are there? Should I gain points for things I do manage to throw out? Should I be docked points for things I throw out that we did end up needing or wanting? I can see it will be tricky at best and I’m not sure what winning will actually mean for either of us, but the contest is on . . . and Mike is up one. The source of his recent victory? A roll of butcher paper. Here is how it went down:

Me: Do you know where I can buy butcher paper? I need it for Young Women’s tomorrow and the only place I’ve seen it is that store way down by the mall. I don’t want to go clear down there (moan) .

Mike: Yah, there’s a roll in the garage.

Me: Really? We have butcher paper in the garage?

Mike: Yah, don’t you remember you wanted to get rid of it.

Me: I don’t remember. I can’t imagine I’d want to get rid of that. What kind of a mother would get rid of a roll of butcher paper? Where in the garage is it?

Mike: I don’t know, it should be in there though . . . unless you threw it out.

Well, the butcher paper was there, right next to all the twin-bed headboards. It was exactly what I needed for the Young Women’s activity and my kids are now happily coloring on more of it downstairs (well, sort of happily . . . Goldie is mad at anyone who talks while she “tries to color”).

This point I give you happily honey, along with the other point for the bull horns which we did eventually end up hanging in Abe’s room.