Grandbabies Always Perfect: New Products Improve
by BARBARA DICKINSON

Let’s face it: life can get pretty humdrum. Same routines. Same traffic patterns to same stores. Same boredom with everyday tasks. Same headaches with household appliances.

Can we lump these experiences under the heading of “humdrum,” or are they merely related to a lifetime of completing the same tasks day in, day out?

Recently I’ve had several major turnarounds in my anything-BUT-humdrum days, and I am eager to talk about them.

The first of course is the arrival of two new grandbabies:

Since every reader knows that his or her grandchild is THE perfect baby, I will elaborate no further. Except to say that every new birth renews one’s hopes: double that and perhaps you’ll empathize with my being on top of the world. Literally.

The second major change in my life came as we acquired a new washing machine. Our old appliance had been living and working happily in our basement for about 25 or 30 years. (My husband professes no knowledge of its arrival, and no papers were found to indicate its actual age.) I can tell you that there were no parts available for this machine.

When it started gasping its last, I knew the time had come. (Its sister the dryer went two years ago, causing twinges of worry at that time.)

Purchase of a new behemoth was a challenge we met quickly and solved easily: we simply bought the same brand with the same features. Alike but with one huge difference: capacity. I feel guilty when I wash a “normal” load of clothing: this machine begs for blankets, sheets, bedspreads. Its cylinder is huge.

I am happiest doing ‘mini’ loads, and plead guilty to observing with rapt attention as our new purchase completes its task in ‘mini’ minutes. Truly, wash day has never found me happier.

Two other items have also contributed cheer to my calendar. These are inventions, or improvements on old ideas. Since it is not the purpose of this column to advertise or promote new products, I cannot give out brand names but I can describe them for readers.

The first is the handy-dandy plastic mayonnaise container that fits snugly on the door-shelf of the refrigerator. The lid snaps up easily, the mouth is wide enough for your fingers to wiggle a spoon down deep, and best of all, it is a slender, horizontal jar. The jar looks small but the capacity is exactly the same as the familiar squat jar that took up an entire inside corner of the fridge. Why has it taken so long for an inventor to come up with this? Probably the brainstorm of some smart 10-year-old.

Applause goes also to the genius who redesigned the can for that common household staple, cornstarch. No more digging into a flimsy box, unwrapping the paper liner only to spill white powder out of the side. Now the cornstarch comes in a round tin (handier for storing on the shelf) with a lift-off plastic lid. The shelf stays cleaner and so does one’s hand. And the same smiling little girl peeps out at you from the font.

Again, what took them so long to reinvent this wheel?

Even the most popular of weed killers is kinder to one’s arms and hands this year. No more pulling and stretching the cord to the hand-pump; just reinsert the cord, squeeze and foam or spray those pesky dandelions.

I am easily pleased, you can see, by the simplest of improvements. How could I ever be bored?

Barbara Dickinson is a Roanoke freelance writer and novelist.