Family Oddities

 

Hayter for January 14, 2024

“A collection of family oddities”

          I’ve got a question just for the grown-ups. – Kids, it does not apply to you, so ignore it. Here we go. – When you were young, what did you call the small piece of cloth that you used when you bathed?

          My family and every family that lived on my block called it a ‘washrag’. It was decades before I was introduced to the word “washcloth”. It sounds so sophisticated to me.  

          I started thinking about this while folding laundry yesterday as Kay was hanging up clothes. It was while folding a washrag that the name struck me as odd. Let’s face it. It’s a lousy name for something you touch your naked body with. That’s the name you call something that you use to remove spots from the floor. And “washcloth” sounds like something from Downton Abbey.

          I asked  Kay what her family called a washrag. She explained that they called a washrag a washrag. “When I was young, the family was poor so Mom made washcloths out of old towels. We referred to them as washrags, because that’s what they were, rags to wash with. Get it?.”

While I didn’t know the origin of the word “washrag”, I thought Kay shouldn’t have answered in a way that made me look stupid. I was the fifth child born to Faris and Elsie. Mom must’ve been ripping towels for years before I was born. I called them washrags same as the rest of the family. Mom never explained the name to me, and I didn’t ask. I was so much less curious back then.

Regardless, my recent history lesson on the“washrag” helped me realize that I was born to a poor family and lived in a poor neighborhood where none of the kids ever heard of a washcloth. 

So, here’s the question: When you were young, what did you call the piece of cloth that was in the tub with you?  If you answer, I promise not to mention your name to anyone.

It was the folding of a “washrag” that made me decide to write about family oddities. I immediately came up with several but decided to ask my siblings about their memories.

Dennis reminded me that Dad called the meringue on Mom’s pies “calf slobber”. I always thought it was Dennis who came up with the name. When it comes to food preparation, Mom was a great cook. Yet, her meringue never looked like the one that Wyatt’s Cafeteria put on their coconut crème pies. I don’t remember ever seeing a single Hayter kid eating Mom’s meringue. I’m only telling you about it now because Mom’s in heaven and doesn’t give two hoots what either Dennis or Dad called her meringue.

Dennis also said that Dad used to say, “Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” I think he got that from the refinery where he worked. One thing each of us said back then as well as today is “fixin’ to“.That’s such a misuse of the word “fix”.

You’re supposed to say -- “I’m about to” or “going to”, “probably will” or “have a notion to”.  You’re not fixing to eat a bowl of cereal. You can’t fix something like that. All you can do with cereal is pour it out of a box and eat it. Yet to this day, I’m still fixin’ to eat a bowl of cereal. That’s how grownups ruined my language.

Larry, the eldest brother, mentioned that Daddy used to say, “Don’t get your tail on the dashboard.” That was all he had! And it’s not even right. You get your tail in a crack, not over a dashboard. That can’t even be done. I love my big brother, but he really blew this one.

My kid-sister Jill mentioned some games we used to play. I don’t remember any games we played that were as complicated as hers. -- Before playing tag we had to choose which person was the tagger. To do that we gathered in a circle with both fists held out.  The leader (whoever that was) would fist bump each fist while chanting, "My Mom-ma and your Mom-ma were hanging out clothes…” I remember the chant, but I don’t remember everything that followed. I think I was too dumb to play the game.

 Jill also mentioned that we played Red Rover. I do remember that one. Two teams would stand in a straight line with a wide space between them. Each side is clasping hands with the person next the them. A kid from one of the sides yells, “Red rover, red rover, let Dennis come over!” Dennis would immediately unhand the person on each side of him and run across the yard hoping to bust through two clinched hands. I don’t remember what happened after that.

          Al didn’t have anything to add to our family oddities. He is the youngest of Faris and Elsie’s kids, so he missed out on a lot of oddities. He would’ve loved our somersault races, but Mom made us quit because Jill really got her bell rung.

          The second oldest sister, Susan, has yet to reply to my request for oddities. She lives in Washington State and stays busy. She’ll send me something in a few weeks. It will probably be something about her grandkids, and have nothing to do with when we were kids. When you’re around kiddos for a long duration, your memories of the long past are less remembered.

          I can remember much of my past. I’m best at remembering songs. However, as mentioned before, my short-term memory is shot. I have trouble finding what I’m looking for. Speaking of which. I like that song by U2. --  “I believe in the Kingdom Come/Then all the colors will bleed into one/Bleed into one/ But yes, I'm still running…”  -- Next time.

 

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