It's been two hours.

On the way home from the airport, my mom said to me, "Thank you so much for taking time at the end of your busy day to write that letter for me. I really appreciate it. I did want to ask you if you could add a few things."

Just kidding! Did you think for a minute you'd stumbled on a different mom blog?

She actually said, "You completely missed the point of what happened with ING. My point is, their policy is inconvenient... imagine if one party were hospitalized or out of the country..."

A.: Yes, you provided that scenario the other day.
Mom: But you didn't include it in the letter.
A.: I must have forgotten. That's why it's easier if you write a letter or at least just an outline, and I correct it for you.
Mom: Anyway, listen... [she continues to re-tell the story she told me on Monday. I tell her she already told me.] So, can you put that all in a letter?
A.: Can YOU put it in a letter? I'll edit it for you.
Mom, screaming: You know, I'm glad I have Irina! She writes letters for me and doesn't complain.
A.: Does she work? Last time I checked she was retired.
Mom pouts, says more things.

***

Just before the letter discussion, my mom asked if I wanted to stop at the Russian food store. She knows I never want to stop at the Russian food store, much less on the way back from the airport. I say no, we go anyway. The letter conversation/screaming fight wraps up just as we pull into the parking lot. I catch up to my dad inside the store and say, "I am so sick of her #$%^ing complaint letters." He said, "I tell her, she doesn't listen." We're about to go through the line when something else catches my mom's attention. She throws a wrinkled produce back with a shoelace in it at me. I eventually figure out that she wants me to use it as a shopping bag.

When we get home, I go upstairs and start unpacking. I hear "WHY DID YOU TAKE THREE BAGS? I GAVE YOU A BAG!" and so on. I said calmly that she got a lot of stuff that would not have fit in that bag. I did use it. She yelled back that I should have tried harder to put more stuff in it. I asked her whether shopping bags, while a worthwhile cause, were worth screaming about. She said yes.