pinking shears

My mom was very good at sewing. She made clothes for my sister and me when we were young. I loved looking at all of her sewing supplies - all the different colored threads, buttons, rick rack, thimbles, straight pins with the colorful beads on the ends, pin cushions, tape measures, and her scissors. The pinking shears fascinated me with their zig zag edge.

Mom's sewing notions were always orderly and she knew if anyone had gotten into them. Her big rule was, "Don't touch my scissors." There are two common scissor problems that have plagued families for centuries. One is, "Where are my good scissors when I need them?!" Hands up if your parents left crappy scissors around the house and hid their fabric or embroidery scissors for serious work. My mom did. Number two crops up when someone actually finds the good scissors and wants to cut paper. If that happens, blood pressure rises, it's the end of the world, and tears are cried. Time to call the police.

One time I made a card for a friend. I had pink construction paper, my crayons, glitter, and glue. It was going to be gorgeous. And then I remembered Mom's pinking shears and how a card with a zig zag edge would be even more gorgeous. I went to the sewing chest, got out the pinking shears, and proceeded to cut the edges through the glitter and glue, not thinking to wipe them off, but making sure to put the shears back exactly where they had been. Mom would never know. 

A couple weeks passed before the roof blew off the house. "WHO USED MY PINKING SHEARS?" It was obvious who did. My brothers didn't play with glitter, my sister didn't know how to use scissors, so that left me. Mom gave me some soapy water and a tooth brush and I had to scrub that dried glue and glitter off her pinking shears. As I paid my penance, I thought about making a beautiful card for Mom to apologize...but with no zig zag edge.