Saturday afternoon

Mom: You haven't wished me a happy mother's day yet! When is mother's day?
A.: Tomorrow.
Mom: Oh.

We'd just managed to turn into what was supposed to be a quick run to Trader Joe's into a field trip. Mom really, really likes to stop and look around. At everything. My reason for wanting to make it quick was that I realized I was out of coconut milk, and wanted to have enough time for stuff to marinate. It was so bad that when I realized how long my parents were taking just to get ready, I rubbed the various stuff with Thai curry paste, without the milk, just to give it a chance. Good thing, too. So finally, when we got the milk, I wanted to get it into the marinade soonest. But I didn't even unpack the groceries when mom asked for toothpicks (I heard 'toothbrush.')

Mom: Do you have toothpicks?
A.: This minute?
Mom: Is it a problem?
A.: No... What's that noise?

I run upstairs. Someone had left the faucet running.

A.: Good thing you saved all that water by not using that cloth napkin.
Mom: You always have to be right about everything--even the slightest thing. It's an inferiority complex of yours. You should learn to deal with it.