Sandy Supposes....

Erma Bombeck's Humorous Wisdom

PROMPT: Tell us about a book you're currently reading (or have recently finished) . Give us a brief synopsis and your thoughts on it.

         Sigh, there are far too many books to read, and too few hours to do so. I like nothing better than to immerse myself in a book, and ignore petty distractions. Reading has never induced sleepiness, and once I begin a book I usually continue until I finish. Thankfully, I read quickly, but it still requires a block of uninterrupted time. Life intrudes.Needs dictate that I sleep, shop, cook,eat, bathe, earn a wage and all those incidental activities. So, my latest eye exercise is a tome of past newspaper articles. I can read one, or a few pages at a sitting.

         I am enjoying an Erma Bombeck memoir titled 'Forever Erma.' It contains a sampling of the 4,500 plus syndicated humour columns she wrote between 1965 and 1996. Erma discovered that she could share her unique perspective as a mother to encourage people to laugh with her. Raising children is stressful, but it is also a chance to tickle a funny bone instead of despairing. She rallied mothers, and showed them no one had to be alone.

         This is an excerpt from her column of March 5, 1969. Ever since President Nixon"s inaugural plea to " speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices", I've had misgivings about my big mouth. I've always admired parents who discipline their children in hushed whispers:" Arthur, you are a naughty boy for turning on all the gas jets. Now I want you to drag your little sister out into the fresh air, give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and apologize. Don't make Mama have to raise her voice." I'm a shouter. No one is born a shrew.

         Erma goes on to write that she once believed that no mother should ever discipline a child in anger, but then she herself had offspring.She writes, " there were only 32 hours every week when I wasn't angry, and then I was sleeping." She claimed that no child listened unless the dishes rattled when Mom spoke. She discovered her kids were runners who avoided her wrath, so, how could she possibly whisper to someone she couldn't see?

Her humour appeals to me. When I was a teenager, I gifted a set of Erma's books to my own mater by way of apology for my transgressions. Even the book titles evoked giggles... 'Motherhood, The Second Oldest Profession','The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank', 'If Life is a Bowl of Cherries What Am I Doing in the Pits?','Aunt Erma's Cope Book'.