A Brief Note To My Sons:

Here are eight reasons why I'll be less inclined to believe you when you next attempt to add "DEODORANT FOR BOYS' BATHROOM" to the grocery list. Three of these were next to Tucker's bed. One was next to your computer and the rest were in your bathroom. I'm not counting the sticks tucked into your backpacks and athletic lockers at school, and it goes without saying that the stuff in our bathroom isn't for your use.

This tendency to think you're out of something when you're not is, of course, not completely your fault. I fear it is somewhat genetic. Open my spice cabinet and you will find half a dozen bottles of Ground Cumin. I blame myself.

love....Mom

Do you tend to unconsciously hoard or overbuy an item? Tell me about it.

Comments

[V-Grrrl]

My son is 12. I can relate.

[slouching mom]

Hahahahahah! I don't do this, myself, but somehow I have no doubt that my boys will, particularly Ben, who's so endearingly scatterbrained.

[Becca]

I once found 4 partly used canisters of seasoned bread crumbs in my pantry. I found them when I was adding the new can I had just bought. I blame pregnancy.

[Tracy]

Black beans and petite diced tomatoes. I use these items often, but not so often that I need 10 cans of each in my pantry!

[ann adams]

Yes, but I'm in recovery. We just moved which gave me a chance to go through everything.

Never again will I do that to us.

Does anyone need 3 boxes of salt; especially when we use so little?

[a happier girl]

Eggos. We have 3 boxes in our garage freezer. For some reason I always think we're almost out.

[clickmom]

Eggs, like I am never going to eat again. I dunno why, perhaps I fear a midnight urge for merange, omelettes, waffles or something.

I am wondering how a mother gets her young son to recognize the necessity of the deodorant. Mine is not a convert yet, and needs to be.

[Nance]

I was positive you were posting about MY BOYS. They even use the same deodorant!

For a while there, I kept buying Kikkoman teriyaki. We had 4 bottles in the basement pantry. Then I couldn't remember if I needed ketchup. We ended up with 4 bottles of that, too. At least it all gets used eventually.

On the other hand, Jared kept buying white socks instead of doing laundry. When he finally did all the wash and packed for college, he had well over 100 pair.

[canknitian]

Porridge (oatmeal in microwaveable packets). I have several unopened boxes of indeterminate age in my cupboard and I will never open them because, in my head, they're past their prime. So I'll throw them out soon and buy another box. And then 'remember' that I need porridge and buy more...and so on and so on and so on.

[Dawn]

omg. It's a joke how much shampoo and gel my husband buys. I finally got it all in one place about three years ago and we haven't needed to buy any since.

I said 'needed'. He's still prone to buy it on sale, and I once bought shampoo thinking it was conditioner.

[Beth]

Better an abundance of deoderant sticks than a lack, surely? :)

I found six chew bones under the couch not too long ago. Does that count?

[anna]

I tend to buy butter, black beans, and tomato sauce. Beth has it right, at least they are worried about having the sticks.

[Jay]

You can never have enough deodorant around. I get two or three at a time myself.

I tend to forget what I have at home when I go to the store and end up with several cans of some items. Of course, if I were to just make a list or something like that it might help. ;-)

[Jonathon Morgan]

LOL. I totally remember doing that...

[Fold My Laundry Please]

At least you know they don't smell!

I have about ten billion birthday candles because everytime there is a birthday party in our house, I can never remember if we have any left. If the power in our house were ever to go out, we could still read books lit only by the light of our birthday candles!

[Ortizzle]

Cumin, oregano, basil. Oh, and also vanilla extract. Stuff I think I am out of when I want to make a certain dish, and I'm wandering around the supermaket... and can't remember if I am out of it, so I buy it just in case. And then end up with several half full containers in the cupboard.

[CircusKelli]

Mustard. We had quite a few containers of mustard at one time.

Oh, and bags of salad.

Now it's plastic forks, knives and spoons. I buy some every time we have a birthday party -- you know, because I don't want to run out.

[Nils]

I keep my freezer and pantry full - if I use something, I replace it, and in fact sometimes I replace it in anticipation of using it.

On Saturday, we met anothe couple at the golf course for a pre-arranged game. While we were playing, the guy casually mentioned that he was looking forward to dinner tonight at our place, and they appreciated the invitation we had extended to them when the game was set up earlier in the week. Both my wife and I had forgotten.

During the break after nine holes, I called my daughter, got her to run over and dive into the freezer and get out ribs for four. When we got home, they were on the counter and thawing - I had them merrily parboiling within ten minutes, and the rest of the meal was all at hand without so much as a trip to the convenience store.

So while sometimes it's a pain to dive into what amounts to an archaeological dig of my buying patterns when I open the freezer ... it's nice when that ONE BIG EMERGENCY crops up.

That said, when I looked into the freezer yesterday I shifted ten pounds of bacon and roughly 20 packages each of ground beef and boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I think I'm good for a while when I walk past the meat section.

Oh, except for ribs. Need more ribs.

[Candy]

Hey, at least they smell good. I would think of this as more of a blessing than a curse.

[TB]

I don't wear nail polish that often, but when I do decide to paint the old goat hooves, I go into my bathroom and find I have 10 bottles of the same dusty rose/pink color from five different brands because every time I buy it, I end up with the same damn color.

[Elizabeth]

Jars of applesauce-I can never remember if there's any in the fridge when I'm at the store, so I buy one just in case, and then come home to find the fridge contains one half-empty jar and one still sealed.

My almost-11 year old son has reached the needs deodorant stage. What happened to my preshus baybee??

[dodo]

my hers and spices shelf is the same - i also do it with shower gels, dried pasta and tampons!

[BID]

Hubsters used to do this with deodorant and I asked him why he didn't throw the old ones out. He said they were there for emergencies. He would pry them open and scoop the gel out if he ran out and needed it in a pinch. I can understand that if it were one emergency stick, but 12?

I don't stock up well, I am afraid I will use money that would be needed elsewhere and then I will die and there will be a surplus of toiletries instead of money for the kids.

[Oh, The Joys]

What kind of xtreme prespiration is going on over there?!!!

[KathyR]

Capers. Because I don't have capers. But, oops, I do.

And nutmeg. Every year I buy it to dust on top of the maybe one or two glasses of eggnog I drink. Then I toss it in the spice cabinet where it will be joined by another nutmeg next December.