Go ahead. Try it.

My mom, while she is reserved and quiet most of the time, is an incredible practical joker.  It’s her brand of humor, and she is a master. 

When we were kids, we’d be tricked into trying foul things like baking cocoa and pure vanilla extract.  Although, I admit, she usually told us we wouldn’t like it, but how could we know when she was joking or telling the truth?  Because occasionally, when she told us we wouldn’t like something it was delicious.  Like raw coconut and fistfuls of sugar.  Which, according to her, would give us worms. 

She used to hide her co-worker’s stapler and quietly snicker as she heard her look for it.  One time she removed all  of the pencils from someone’s drawer.  Later, my mom would replace the items, but put them in a different place.  Anything to beat the 9-to-5 droll, I guess.

She used to say, “Hey!  You want a banana?  A banana sounds good!”  And whoever it was (her brother or one of us) would say, “Yes!  A banana!”  And then she’d laugh and say, “Ooooh, sorry.  We don’t have any.”

YES, it used to irritate the crap out of me.  But this morning?  I finally GOT IT.

I was dipping my tea bag into my mug of hot water at the breakfast table, and Blythe got it in her head that she just had to have the tea bag. 

“No,” I told her, “It’s not good.  You won’t like it.” 

Her reply?  “Me.  Me.” she said, as she did the sign for “gimme that”.

Then a smile crept over my face.  And I let her have the tea bag.  I was seriously looking forward to seeing her reaction when she sucked some of that pure, bitter tea into her mouth.  Unfortunately for me, she didn’t like the texture and threw it on the floor before it ever reached her lips. 

My mind went straight to the baking cocoa in the cabinet and I thought, “I wonder if I could get Alison to try that?”