March SOLC–Day 26
Have you ever noticed that sometimes an unintended word pops out of your mouth? I’m not talking the four-letter variety either. Or the common mistake of calling one of your children by their brother’s or sister’s name…or the dog’s for that matter. I’m talking about this lovely phenomenon that seems to happen to me with some regularity these days. That moment when you say a word that is not at all what’s intended…and makes no sense. It worries me some. It would worry me more if my husband weren’t doing it, too. Since he is, I’m just tacking it up to one of the joys of the aging process.
Yesterday, we spent the whole day together visiting our kids in Orono, Maine. Throughout the day we laughed at a few mis-said words. Mostly, we just help each other out and supply the correct word. Sometimes it’s a bit more humorous. After one such moment, I’d said, “This aging stuff is gonna be great! Before too long, we’re going to be babbling together like idiots. Hopefully we’ll still at least be able to understand each other!”
After our daughter’s concert that night, we returned to our hotel room to settle down for the night. I was first in bed, enjoying the luxury of a well-heated room. (note: At home, old, old house+Maine winter+ poor insulation+kids in college=low, low thermostat setting=Brrrr!)
Ahhhhh…It’s so nice and warm in here. Ohhhh… maybe I can take my socks off.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
What? Oh, no! My warm and cozy thoughts scattered and an icy finger of dread skittered down my spine. I glanced up quickly, knowing what I would see. Dreading it. Yes, there he was. Just as I thought. Kurt was standing over at the thermostat, his trigger finger on the down button. (He prefers to sleep in a temperature that’s a bit more… Arctic.)
Beep.
He hit the button again and the fan engines revved up ominously. A stream of cool air wafted through the room almost instantaneously. I shivered before it even reached me.
“NO!” I wailed, “I was just thinking how nice it was to be warm. I was even going to take my socks off!”
“Not your socks!” he teased.
“Yes! And there aren’t any extra blankets either,” I whined.
“Did you check the closet?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said plaintively, adding a dramatic shiver for effect.
“How about the drawer?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to call down and get you one?” he asked. ” I’ll even sprinkle the blanket on you when it gets here.”
Sprinkle the blanket?
We both burst out laughing.
Sprinkle??
Yup. It’s gonna be fun!
Nix the comfort zone 
Yes, this happens to me! I’m going to have to remember when it does and try to write a slice as funny as yours. You’ve captured the scene!
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Thanks, Melanie. Humor is key!!!
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bahaha! I think you’re working out a new language already 🙂
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Something similar happens to me! You captured the warmth in this charming slice.
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Glad to know others are in the same boat!
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I like the idea of sprinkling a blanket. My husband and I play with the temperature as well. The ideal situation is that I get to go to sleep and THEN he turns it down. Hope it worked out for you, with or without socks.
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Well, I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I got my way and then was a bit too hot during the night! I think I’ll go with your plan next time!
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As I age I am beginning to notice that the words I am searching for while conversing just don’t come as quickly as they use to and sometimes the wrong word hits my brain before the right one does. Needless to say I either stand there an awkward moment waiting for the right one or just spit out the wrong. Usually the latter. I am glad to know that it’s just the aging process and is normal. 🙂
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I’m not making any guarantees that it’s normal, I’ve just chosen to interpret it that way! lol Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
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ha! I love this! It was great waiting and waiting for what mis-word you or your husband would end up using! Great way to keep the reader in suspense! Sprinkle the blanket? Why not?
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It was more fun to share his mis-speaks than mine! 🙂
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Oh yes, the battle of the thermostat. I like it warm too. Your conversations added a good chuckle! At our house we seem to have a hearing problem vs. a speaking problem. Either way I think it’s time we admit we are getting old! You always have a talent for writing a piece that I call “exploding the moment” and pull the reader right in there with you.
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Thanks, Amy! We have a dash of the hearing problem mixed in as well which definitely adds to the humor factor at times!
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Bahahaha!! I am so glad I read your slice today. We are encountering that phenomena of words-out-of-place in our conversations, too. I’ve tried ignoring and forgetting (which isn’t too hard to do), but maybe we should record them the way we do the talk of young children.
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Great idea, Alice! If I record all my mis-speaks I’ll have plenty of fodder for slices everyday–Unless, as you pointed out, I forget them!
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