what's that hook for? [parenting the teenage years]

ever since we moved into this house, i’ve wondered why the previous owners had a hook on the inside of the post on the front porch - there is a large plant hook on the opposite side facing the street as well,
so this little hook always seemed odd and without purpose to me...

until one day, when i was tired of getting after my daughter over so many things (teenage years, need i say more?) so, fearing i’d turn into a 'nag' and needing to deal with the piles of clothes on her floor AND having no desire to “fine” her for this infraction on top of the steep fines already placed on her for days when she didn’t make her bed, i was in a bit of a quandary about how to respond...

i desired to figure something out while respecting the fact that she means well, struggles with early morning and just doesn’t get it all right, all of the time - she needed a break, while i needed to prevent a potential bad habit from forming...hmmmm

then the hook came to mind and i put it to use, finally!

i took the stuff off the floor and transferred it outside to the hook, the undergarments clearly visible on top (i know, i’ll probably pay for at least one of her counseling sessions for that one) and could hardly wait for her to come home from school that day - when she arrived, she asked why all her things were on that hook, i told her i found them on the floor where they didn’t belong and moved them to another spot where they didn’t belong and now they were ‘her problem, not mine’ - i also told her, “you may not think i’m funny, but i do!”

she didn’t have much to say, she just hauled them up to her room and ‘took care of them’ - honestly, you may not think i’m funny, but i do! - and it wasn’t the only occurrence of the hook episodes, however, with each repeat performance, no words were exchanged, she just put her things away, and once again, i was amused instead of annoyed!

btw, she’ll never admit it to me, but i suspect that somewhere deep inside, she is a little amused by it also...

i’ve since come to the conclusion that the previous owners installed that hook for the cleaners to leave laundry deliveries if they weren’t home...but on that note, i may never really know, will i?

because it matters,
jayne