Ask Mammy

May 15, 2007

There are four people living in our house.

This often stretches to six or eight or more, especially at weekends and holiday times..

The biggest number of people who ever sat down to eat together here was 12 and that was at Christmas.

In fact, we rarely all sit and eat together at all anymore!

Why then, do I have over 30 forks?

I am equally overstocked with knives and spoons and cups and bowls and plates and, for some reason I can't figure out, I have 15 egg cups!

Even on a day when the house is bursting at the seams, the likelihood of 15 people all wanting boiled eggs at the same time is pretty slim!

It all comes down to what a former boss used to call my 'squirrel mentality'.

If you pick that apart even further, you will find fear at the root of it!

Fear of not providing well enough for the people in my care.

Fear of being short of anything I might need.

Fear of not measuring up.

Daft as it may seem to the rational mind, I can now see that I have been accumulating stuff around me 'just in case'.

All this extra stuff was creating the illusion that I was in control of my life - prepared for any eventuality - when in actual fact, it was the other way around!

It has started to feel like a stone in my shoe recently and I have reached the point where I can no longer ignore it or walk through the pain!

So the great clear out has begun.

Will I be less of a person because I don't have enough eggcups the day there is a big rush on boiled eggs?

Am I going to feel like a failure if that happens?

Will I disappoint myself and the people in my care?

Maybe - but it really doesn't matter.

In the grand scheme of things, everything is perfect.