Sunday, August 5, 2012

Mousies

Our cats over the years have all been good mousers, and as a result we've been frequently given unwanted gifts of dead mice on our doorstep.  The dead mice seem to us to be a special kind of gift-- something the cats apparently really want to give us, but something we really don't need or want.  We always call them "mousies." A few weeks ago it occurred to me that the pieces of unwanted advice I am so tempted to give to my adult children are really mousies in the truest sense of the word.  My journal group had decided for this next month to each develop a completely different practice for our journals-- to keep track of something we've not kept track of before.  I immediately thought of a mousies journal.

I carved a small dead mouse stamp out of  pink carving material.  I slammed together a down and dirty little pamphlet book to use as the journal for the next month.  And as often as I can catch myself with a mousie of advice ripe for the giving, I stamp a mousie in the journal and print the advice in tiny letters on the carcass.  If I have managed to catch the mousie before I lay the advice on the person, I hang the mousie up by its tail.  If the advice escapes, however, that mousie runs across the bottom of the page.  It has been interesting to see how often I harbor mousies, and using the journal has definitely reduced the number of mousies that I am laying on various doorsteps.

10 comments:

  1. Excellent! My children will appreciate this so much, LOL

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  2. You are the cleverest person I know!

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  3. But...but...but....some of your adult children really DO want your advice! Maybe your dead mousies journal needs to make the rounds when it's full?

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  4. Believe me, you don't want these mousies! Here's how I can tell if what I'm about to say is a true mousie: I imagine the conversation-- me: You know you really shouldn't let the kids eat so many gummy bears. adult child: Wow, you're so right! WHy didn't I think of that? Thanks for that tip!

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  5. brilliant way to catch yourself, and I like the concept, sure my children would appreciate me not dropping them at their door too. Perhaps the act of keeping track will help to lessen the number.

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  6. What a fabulous analogy and way to curb some unwanted advice. I could do this exercise and benefit from it no doubt. :/

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  7. I love this idea Gwen! I might start one right now just for the unsolicited advice that I hand out to my loved ones...

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  8. And it's handy to have the mousies trapped in the journal in case you decide you really DO want to deliver one to someone who needs it. Just kidding, but it really is fun to read them over a few days afterwards-- they are so ridiculous they crack me up!

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