Helen+Bess

This I Believe Because I Said So

When I was little, I questioned almost everything my dad told me to do. Whenever I would ask him why he wanted me to do a certain task a certain way, he would always just answer; “Because I said so.” This phrase of course lost meaning to me, because it alone was not a good enough reason for me to do the job the way my dad wanted it done. It was around thanksgiving time, probably when I was about 7 or 8 years old, that my dad was making his famous Holiday Tea Cake Snowball Cookies. He makes them once a year, every year for my Aunts Holly, and Tani, who are twins. These cookies are their favorites, and they usually eat themselves sick with them. They are sort of bitter in the middle, made with dry ingredients, and the main ingredient is pecans and almonds crushed together. Then they are triple layered with powdered sugar which makes them have a perfect balance of sweet and bitter. I decided that year, that I wanted to help. The trick to the pecans and almonds is to fine grind them in a jar nut chopper. My dad has always been a pro with this kitchen tool. I thought it was so cool how fast dad could chop the nuts, and I wanted that job. So, dad allowed me to chop the nuts. He gave me the jar, and I had only made one chop when dad told me to “stop, and hold the jar” while I chopped. I asked why, and his famous answer came:”Because I said so.” So, I held the jar for a while, but I couldn’t chop as fast as dad if I didn’t have both hands on the chopper. So, when dad turned away to take a batch of cookies out of the oven, I put both hands on the chopper, and went as fast as I could. My hands were really small, and on my fourth, or so, chop, the jar had tilted on its side, and slid to the edge of the counter. I held on to the chopper, and pushed down one more time, and the entire jar went over the edge of the counter and shattered on the floor. Dad turned around and he was furious. He had to carry me out of the kitchen so that I didn’t cut my foot, he burned a batch of cookies because he was cleaning up the mess, and I had ruined two whole batches worth of nuts. I believe that when parents tell you to do something a specific way, it’s because from experience, they know that something will go wrong. They really just want to protect you when they say:” because I said so.” Parents want what’s best for us. They are smarter than we give them credit for, and yes, they are definitely smarter than us!