Long ago, when Stan was trying to help raise three girls The Right Way, the middle child, assigned to bring our garbage cans to the curb for pickup each week, was failing.
"I just can't remember that Tuesday is trash day," Marcy lamented, explaining why she had forgotten the week's stinky garbage in the garage once again. Her lapsed memory was her excuse.
So in an effort to refocus her teenage brain, Stan prescribed a dramatic memory hook: He set a ladder and sent Marcy to the rooftop to sit on the ridge and repeat "Tuesday is Trash Day. Tuesday is Trash Day" until she was quite certain she wouldn't forget her responsibility again.
She lingered on the roof, enjoying this unique experience, gazing out over the stunning Minnesota River Valley, repeating the mantra.
The device was effective. From then on our trash consistently appeared on the curb each Tuesday.
Marcy's little sister remembers too. Last week she was scraping shingles off the log cabin on the refurbishing project she and Joe have tackled in Nisswa, when she came upon an unexpected sight. Under a layer of shingles she found two boards, one labeled "M" and the other labeled "T."
She sent along these pictures today, naturally assuming the letters are just left over from some zealous parent trying to get a point across.
She writes:
Hi Stan and Mom,
The funniest thing, when I was up tearing the shingles off the North room, I found a large M and T, must have been left there from times gone by. Looks like you're not the only one to come up with that creative punishment Stan! Mondays and Thursdays must have been popular chore days! ;)
Jennifer
