The women’s thing

 The women in my family have a long history of knowing.  When someone was ill or in trouble, and
in an age before “Caller ID”, they would know who was calling on the phone before answering, or they would call a friend or relative to find out what was wrong. This ability was simply explained to me as “the women’s thing”.  This way of being has always been part of my life.  

My mother and her sisters had this uncanny sense for knowing what was up.  Because of this connection I was found out many times when in the middle of mischief.  One time when skipping school to hang at the shopping center (this was pre-mall days) I was crammed into a phone booth with a boy making out.  Although the boys name escapes me, I have a clear memory of my aunt walking right up to the booth and opening the door.  Busted.  Or the time I was "entertaining" while my parents were out of town when my other aunt pulled into the driveway and stormed in, up the stairs and directly into my parents bedroom where my friend and her boyfriend where clutching sheets around them.  Major busted.

My own daughters have great stories of me leaping out of a drugged stupor (I had just returned home that day from a surgery), yelling for Chuck to check on our daughter, who was at that moment dressed and sneaking out her bedroom window.  Our youngest daughter seemed to be able to get away with things in a way our oldest could not.  She later told me that she had discovered a way to keep clairvoyant mothers and aunties from tuning in.  She would repeat "mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes" in her mind and I was oblivious.