Story time…

Picture this, It’s the first week in January and you go visit your mother in her care home… You go to your mum‘s room, where she is located. She suddenly and unexpectedly, hands you a little blue, battered gift bag – clearly something she had ripped open a few weeks prior and ‘re-used’ it! You proceeded to open the bag, and pull out a red & black, crocheted Minnie Mouse hat!

Sounds nice doesn’t it? A humorous moment between mother and daughter, as it was a little joke to her, as I do like wearing either hats or headbands – I like my ears covered (I guess its a comfort thing). And… mini mouse is not entirely ‘my thing’. I wouldn’t wear it in public but it was the gesture. It was my mum thinking of me when she saw something so it was a sentimental thing I guess. But this unfortunately is not where the story ends. In that moment, I felt that the right thing to do, is to put it on – to entertain her more than anything, and of course act like I really liked it. With that, I gave her my favourite headband to wear, (as I had to remove said headband to put on said hat) she liked it, and asked if she could keep it… I was reluctant, but in the moment I was just happy that my mum thought of me as she saw this item and I thought it was quite cute.

Side note: I do that a lot, I’ll give things away at the ‘spare of the moment’ if someone likes something I have and they’re nice to me. I don’t know why I do it. Of course it makes me somewhat venerable, as some peoples intentions aren’t always good ones and I struggle to identify them, making me high risk of being taken advantage of!

So, back to this hat… I put it on and there it stays for the time being. I take my mother (in her wheelchair), down to the social area, of said care home – wearing this hat. I looked like a complete knob, as it’s not a subtle one, but I didn’t mind. I’m kind of like that, a bit of a joker… But it made mum happy. And I truly believed (and still do), that she was just doing a nice thing without thinking of the seriousness and repercussions of ones actions. So we start to walk (me walk, not mother, shes in a wheelchair, remember?) through to the canteen, it was unoccupied, I think they were getting ready for breakfast… And suddenly out of nowhere, one of the members of staff come out from the kitchen, she asks loudly, “can I ask you where you got that hat from?“ At that time I was smiling to myself and looking like a tit, and before I could say something, my mum says “she got it from a friend”. It was there, at that moment, that penny dropped. Dropped, like a pile of crap coming out of a pigeons bum hole! Then, the lady turns to me and says “it’s just I had one just like that go missing three weeks ago! And I make them by hand, it takes me hours and hours to make! I was selling them here recently, to make money for charity, And I noticed that one went missing. So, I know my hat when I see it”. Yeah, my mum nicked that hat didn’t she?!! and clearly you can tell something like that would’ve took hours to make. It was that moment I wanted the ground to crumble beneath me and take me as far away from the situation as it possibly could. I felt my cheeks go red… And I was still wearing this fucking hat. I didn’t wanna take it off because that would’ve been a sign of guilt right? So I just said to the lady, I’ll find out where my friend got this hat from and I’ll let you know.

I then wheeled my mother out of that situation quick – and I mean ‘Husain Bolt’ would’ve not overtook me at that point! I get to mum’s room and immediately, I take off the hat (that made me look like a synchronised swimmer). Honestly I think it was a kids one, but I have a small head so it’s all good… I would love to say the story ended there, but as we all know actions have consequences and unfortunately, yet again I have to take the consequences of my mother‘s actions! So I go back to the lady in question and I talk to her, she knew exactly what had happened. I could see why she would be upset. Being somebody who paints and creates things myself, I know that a lot of work would go into something creative. And it’s not the money value on it. It is the time and effort that somebody puts in to produce something.

So with me, being me… I’m wanting to squash the situation ASAP, I went into ‘panic mode’ – the one where i say anything to make the other person happy (even at my own expense) and blurted out “but the good thing about this is you’ve now got a customer! I love this hat so much I would like to buy it!”. So, as I’m complimenting and purchasing this hat – which cost me £10, and I could’ve maybe just gave it back… I then went onto asking her about what other animals she could crochet into a hat, which she states “I could do any animal you want, I just need about eight weeks to make it” – Now, in that moment I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to thank the lady and walk away. but I didn’t, I was still in panic mode. I then (I have no idea why) asked, “could you make a panda?… Why did I say panda? I’ve got nothing against pandas, but they’re not even my favourite animal. It was just the first animal that came to mind. I wanted to say bear, but that would not be original. Basically, not only did I buy the hat, I’ve put my name down for another one! So, in eight weeks time I’ll be proud owner of a knitted/crocheted panda hat.

So in a nutshell – We are hardly halfway through the first month of 2025, and already, my mum gifted me a stolen item, which I then paid for (and ordered another one)! I would love to say that’s the first time my mother dearest has embarrassed me or I’ve had to clear up her mess… But, that’s something that I’ve come to terms with, it’s something that I cannot change. So as per – I just roll with it. I just hope that this isn’t a sign of things to come this year! Im still reeling over it, and I haven’t been back since! Oh, and I’ve lost my favourite headband!

T x