Just between us is when we get together once a month or so and say the things that you think but don’t really say. Or you do say, but only to certain people. I’ll go first, then you share in the comments and everyone will feel a whole lot better.
Just between us...
1. I drink a lot more water when I’m at work than when I’m at home, probably because I’m bored or sitting a lot or hungry or whatever. Maybe because getting up to go pee means a time out in the bathroom?
I don’t know, but I’m constantly refilling my water bottle, and it makes me think I must have been dangerously dehydrated for much of the last year.
2. Hypothetical situation: you’re in the middle of washing dishes and you have to go to the bathroom. Let’s say it’s a number two.
Knowing that immediately after going to the bathroom you’ll be plunging your hands back into hot soapy water to finish the dishes, do you wash your hands first? Or do you assume that the dish washing also qualifies as hand washing?
Asking for a friend.
3. Even though it came out in 1992, I can still sing the entire anthem from the movie A League of Their Own from memory, and often do. Damn that Gena Davis sure could play ball.
4. I wish day care would stop sending home my kid’s crappy art. He’s three, not Picasso.
When it gets sent home, I have to sneak it into the recycling bin when he’s not looking and then act surprised and upset about it being in there if he ends up finding it.
5. You know what weirds me out? People with suuuuuuuuper white teeth. Like blindingly white where it’s hard to ignore the fact that they’ve had them whitened, and probably recently.
I was in a meeting with a guy last week and I could not stop looking at his freakishly white teeth. And it makes me wonder, do people with super white teeth stare at my teeth and think about how not white they are?
6. Every time we make crispy potato wedges or chickpea fries or something similar, my husband says, “we should make an aioli to go with this” which makes me want to punch him in the nuts for two reasons:
1) Because he doesn’t know what aioli means. What he actually wants is a spicy, yogurt-based chipotle dipping sauce and aioli means garlic sauce. I explain this Every. Single. Time.
And 2) Because “we should make aioli” doesn’t actually mean he’s going to participate in making it. What it means is “I want you to make me some sauce.” So learn to make your own damn “aioli” then! Fuck the patriarchy!
7. You know what annoys me? People who don’t bother to pedal their bikes on a slight downhill. I have places to be! Use your legs!
8. My proper training swim suit doesn’t fit me well anymore, and I’m too much of a tight wad to buy a new one right now, so I’ve started swimming laps in my “recreational” bathing suit instead.
I was walking out on the pool deck heading in it and thinking to myself, oh my god I look like a mom…. Oh wait…
9. Whenever I lock up my stuff at the pool I look at the number of the locker and my trick for remembering the locker number is to ask myself, “how old am I not?” which is ridiculous because the number is always different, but somehow it always works. NOW YOU KNOW THE CODE.
10. Every time I make myself a cup of tea I have to set a timer for five minutes while it steeps or else I will forget about it and be stuck with very strong, very lukewarm tea. Most of the time I silence my alarm and end up forgetting anyways. The struggle is real.
Tessa
On number 2. The science says there is way more bacteria in your kitchen sink than in your toilette. Including the bad guys. So hypothetically, your friend is good. (Do I know your friend?)
Roos
1. Yes and no. When I don't feel like working, I go to the office kitchen about every 10 minutes and get tea or water (I feel like drinking nothing but tea all day dehydrates me and I should drink more water. Do you thinks so too or am I imagining it?). When I'm busy, I forget about any bodily needs (drinking, eating, peeing, moving around)
6. Omg yes! So annoying! I think I'm guilty of this 'did we do this' behavior too though, and my boyfriend is generally very appreciative of what I do (we only live together for half a year, maybe tides will turn), but this happens to us too, definitely.
9. Our gum lockers have that too and I always pick one in a corner, cause I can never remember the ones in the middle rows. But I'm gonna use your golden tip!
10. At home: always. But really, always. Strong cold tea which may of may not have been licked by my cat is my thing now apparently.
Sharing my brainfarts:
1. Anyone familiar with your partner leaving his dishes next to the (empty) dishwasher? Or the favorite: gross and wet in the sink? It doesn't get clean when it's near the dishwasher dude!
2. I think I would so love to take a 2 month break from work to re-energize, but get restless after 30 minutes of unplanned sitting on the couch by myself
3. I would love to work parttime, like, 3 days a week or so (context: I'm not a mom). Full time work is tiring. Should we aspire to work long weeks and be tired all the time? Is it okay to be 'lazy'? Sounds like a better life quality
Katie Trant
Well I guess I should be grateful that I don't have a cat to lick my tea on top of everything else!
Lolly
With the hand washing thing, if you didn't wash in the bathroom then the germs from your hands would surely end up in the water you're using for dishes? I always find things like that annoying though. My hands are so sensitive and when I have to do a million nappy changes in an evening it gets annoying.
Also, with artwork, a week ago I saw a parent at school binning their kid's homework literally before they even left the playground. My daughter would not even slightly cope with that, but I was slightly in awe of the attitude.
Oh and I also drink more water at work. I realised that when I first get into work I fill my glass, and then I refill when empty. So now on home days I make sure to get a glass out first thing. Not quite as good, due to being out and about more, but it's helped.
Katie Trant
Oh wow, binning the artwork before even leaving the playground? That is a bold move indeed. Respect to that lady.
Sandra lea
#2? No way, that's gross. Remind me never to eat dinner at your house.
Katie Trant
Hypothetical, Sandra! Asking for a friend! I always wash my hands, but every time I do it feels like one of those annoying inefficiencies, kind of like having a shower before you go swimming, which I also do - and the protocol here is to have a naked shower with soap and shampoo your hair before you put your bathing suit on, which means I wash my hair before AND after every swim. Annoying! Every time I go to the bathroom and wash my hands and then plunge my hands back in soapy water, I'm like, but didn't I just do this? Could I have skipped this step? So I'm wondering if there is an official protocol, much like at the pool. Clearly there is, and I'm in line.
Christie Kline
6. Clearly you need to stop making things that would be good with aioli.
7. You did say slight downhill so this may not apply. I’m in my late 40s and it’s become way too easy to go too fast on my bike now. I use my brakes (!) on the downhill all the while envisioning that I’m seconds away from hitting a rock and eat the pavement.
10. I’ve convinced my family that I happen to think that the microwave is the best place to keep coffee you plan to drink later. There’s always a cold mug of it in there.
Katie Trant
I brake on a steep downhill, but our bike lanes are narrow and it's difficult to make a pass in most places, so it really annoys me when people just give up pedalling on a slight downhill. That's when I like to accelerate!
Claire
1. I also drink a lot more water at work than at home. I also drink a lot more tea at work because I basically work in a refrigerator and I think that helps to hydrate me.
2. Definitely wash your hands after. C'mon now.
3. I am almost 30 years old and as recently as last year my mother gave me crafts I made in elementary school. They were basically construction paper reindeer and the like. I politely waited until she left and then recycled all but one. Don't feel bad about not keeping them. He won't want them later.
4. My husband does something similar. He will be like "did we take the trash out?" or something similar, and I'll be like "well IIIIIIIII took the trash out, we did not." It's petty but honestly don't say we when you're asking me if I did something. You don't get credit.
My turn:
-I'm admittedly about 15 lbs overweight right now and instead of trying to do anything about it I just bought a bunch of leggings, which are very comfortable. It was way easier than losing weight!
Katie Trant
Overweight according to who, Claire? BMI? Some nonsense unattainable beauty standard? We know that restrictive dieting doesn't work in more than 90% of cases, and when people do make a concerted effort to lose weight they tend to gain all of it back, usually more, and end up more unhealthy than they were to begin with. So buying clothes that fit you right now and you feel good in is in fact a much healthier approach than trying to fix the non-problem of 15lbs. Maybe you're the size your body is meant to be! Are you eating veggies and moving your body? Then you're good!
Simone WhiTe
All of these statements so resonate with me! I am currently pumping in my office and typing with one finger and laughing at the fact that I am not the only one who thinks these things! And I SO drink more water at work then at home. I chalked it up to my children and husband being needy and distracting as soon as I get home! Loved this so much!
Katie Trant
People who pump at work are my heroes. The hardest, most annoying thing to do. Good for you ????
Heather Edwards
So, I thought you'd appreciate that I read this while nursing my squirming son. He totally reared his head back without letting go. I may have screeched a curse word causing lots of questions from my 3 year old.
Also, I say "There's no crying in baseball!" At least once a week. It's definitely one of my favorite movies.
And my partner does similar things. I feel as you do about it.
Katie Trant
Ooooh those tiny vice grip jaws. I feel your pain. There's no crying in baseball ???? When I read that Penny Marshall passed away I thought I should see where I could download the movie and watch it again. It's been ages since I've seen it!