As a child who grew up in the 1970’s, I was surrounded by Tupperware. I’m pretty sure my mom probably hosted a Tupperware party more than a few times. For younger readers, a Tupperware party would be pretty much the same as a Essential Oils Party or Pampered Chef Party today. EVERYONE I knew used Tupperware! However, word is that they company may be going away for good.
According to CBS news, “The Orlando-based company said it had ‘substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern’ in a press release and securities filing.” It’s also considering selling some of its real estate holdings or cutting other parts of the business, which it termed “right-sizing efforts” in its press release.
This is sad. I can’t tell you how many glasses of Kool Aid I poured from the Tupperware pitcher.
You can bet that the Kool Aid was poured into Tupperware cups, too!
I wonder how many leftovers were sealed up in bowls or canisters with the ridged Tupperware lid during my childhood?
One Tupperware staple that I will forever connect with my mom was the sugar “bowl.” It had a matching creamer container that went with it.
My mom always used a lot of sugar in her tea. I remember her pouring it out of that container like it was yesterday.
I guess Tupperware had a resurgence a few years ago with Covid. More people were staying home and cooking, and their sales were up a lot. Word is now that there are may issues the company is dealing with and it is more than likely that the company will close up shop for good.
Sigh, another piece of my childhood to become a memory …
I have never been diagnosed with OCD. That being said, I do tend to be a creature of habit. I tend to take the same way to work every day, I like my coffee the same way every day, and such, but I don’t think I am OCD. My books and DVDs are NOT alphabetized, crooked pictures don’t bother me, etc… There are, however, some things that take my anxiety through the roof.
I love my wife, but I think sometimes she suggests things that she knows will drive me crazy. (Side note: This is probably because I do NUMEROUS things that drive her crazy. She is WAY more OCD than I will ever be!) So let me give you an example of what happened this morning.
After breakfast this morning, she sat with the kids and I for a bit before going to bed. She received some text messages from Andrew’s speech people about things we could do with him. One of those things was to so some sensory games with beans or rice. She came out of the bedroom and went to a cabinet in the kitchen and grabbed a bag of beans.
She told me as she grabbed some Tupperware and cookie sheets what she was doing. She suggested I get a blanket or sheet to put down on the shag rug we have in the living room so they wouldn’t get stuck in the rug. She then grabbed a box of elbow macaroni and opened it. She said, “Ella will want to play, too.”
I put the sheet down and out came the beans and macaroni. Sam gave them a couple mixing cups so they could scoop from one Tupperware dish to the other.
It started out fine. Ella was playing with the macaroni and Andrew had the beans. At some point they swapped.
They also were good about just dumping from one container to the other … for a while.
I’m truly surprised that this photo didn’t catch the beans and macaroni that Andrew was throwing up in the air and all over the living room. (Side Note: Yes, he is wearing his sister’s underwear over his pants. She is potty training and he wanted to wear a pair, too. Does he look ridiculous? Yes, and I am happy if he is happy.)
Half the battle was getting Andrew to NOT eat the raw beans or noodles.
Slowly, but surely, the beans mixed with the macaroni and vice versa. My anxiety was at an all time high as I was trying to keep the beans and noodles out of the carpet. It was everywhere!
Eventually, they lost interest and got lost in a show on TV. When the alarm went off to tell Ella it was time to use the potty, I took advantage of her being off the sheet and wrapped all the beans and macaroni in it. I wrapped it in a big ball and put it in a shopping bag.
Hours later I was still finding beans and noodle on the carpet! I’m sure as a kid, I was making messes with stuff like this, but it was all I could do to not wrap it all up 10 minutes into them playing with it!!
I know my wife, and I am sure the beans and noodles will reappear sometime in the near future. I guess I will just wear socks when I am walking around in the living room ….
This afternoon before work, I wanted to go for a walk. The kids had been a handful throughout the day and Sam said that she wanted to stay home. I thought it would be a good idea to take the kids and give her a good half hour of quiet. So I loaded up the kids in the stroller and began my walk.
I got about a block and a half from home and my phone rang. It was Sam.
“Where are you!?”
“I’m walking with the kids. Why?”
“You’ve got to get home NOW!”
“What’s going on? What’s the mat…..”
“There is a mouse in the house! Maizey had it in her mouth! It jumped out and it is still alive!”
“Where is it now?”
“Under the couch! Just get home!”
“Where are you at?”
“I’m ON the couch. I’m not moving until you get here!”
So I turn around and walk the block and a half back to our house. I’m not letting the kids go in the house and I tell Sam to come out. I walk in to see our cat, Maizey, staring at the couch. This is a good sign, as it tells me the mouse has not moved anywhere else in the house. I go to the kitchen and begin to look for something – anything – that I can use to throw on top of the mouse in the event that I can get it out in the open.
I found a large Tupperware bowl and see myself as Tom (above) being able to trap this thing in the bowl. I begin to push the couch from against the wall. I do this is slow movements, as I want the mouse to stay sort of in that area. If he goes into another room, I know I’m in trouble.
Little by little I move the couch. No mouse. Finally, I move it one more time and the mouse goes scurrying across the floor. There is no way for me to get the dumb thing because the couch is in front of me. I see it scurry under the table in the corner of the living room. So I slowly walk over there. I know I have got to keep this little pest over there. I have a flashlight and I am looking all over the place, but don’t see it where I thought I did.
At this point I feel like Mr. Jinks from the cartoon. “Where is this little Meece?!”
As I look under the table, I see the back cracker that Sam has. It is meant to sit on the floor, and you lay on it to crack your back. Your back goes on this little “hill” with massagers on it.
I see the mouse sitting under the hill and begin to think of how to get the Tupperware bowl over the top of it. I laid on the floor with the bowl in one hand and the flashlight in the other. I start to slowly move the back cracker and think I can force him out the back and I can slam the bowl on top of him. I am just about to get him and he shoots out from the front, which I should have expected, but didn’t. I give out the “man scream” and watch it scurry across the room and toward the mesh baby gate.
I start looking around and cannot find that little bugger to save my life. It is entirely possible that the thing is now in the basement or elsewhere in the house. I’m furious. It is then that I notice the small run that sits next to the mesh gate. We put our shoes on it. There is a fabric square container that Ella’s shoes are in that sits on the rug almost up against the wall. The rug has a little “bump” in it against the wall. I got behind it at took the flashlight to see the mouse’s tail and rear end hiding in between the floor and the rug. Now I got it where I want it – Trapped!
It is too close to the wall to use the bowl. So I have to think of the best way to get this thing. The best way was not the most humane way. I begin to look around to see what I can get to hold this mouse. I flashback to another time I was in a similar situation and grabbed the 2 foot level my grandpa gave me.
I know that I can slide this against the wall and down on top of the rug. My intention was to kind of hold him there until I could get him under the bowl. I pushed the level down and now had the little guy by the tail. Sam hollered in through the screen wanting to know if I had caught him. I told her I did, but was not really sure what to do next!
She asked if I needed her. She had loaded the kids up in the car and was about to head off to get ice cream or to her mom’s for the night (if I didn’t catch the thing). She came in the house and I asked her to go het the barbecue tongs. She did and I was able to pick up the mouse with them.
I walked outside with the little thing and was going to toss him into the yard. My wife yelled to not let him loose close to the house. So, I walked out toward the road and let it loose there. Apparently, the road was still too close to the house, even though it was clear that mouse wasn’t coming back to our place.
Tomorrow, I will head to the store to get some of that stuff to place around the house that repels mice and rodents. I will probably also buy a few traps, just in case. One thing is for sure, from now on, the only mouse trapping I want to do will be with a board game!!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 