I Have a Secret Power — and It’s Not Your Typical Super Power

The only reason I’m laughing is because this is a later-in-life superpower that I’ve only just discovered.

Author image — ignore the dirty floor on the back porch where the dryer is

I’ve jokingly texted my sister several times about my new superpower, often including a picture as proof.

My new superpower is that I am the only one in our small household that has the power to see dryer sheets laying on the floor!

Two years ago, my divorced son and I went in together and bought a house together. A short time later, after some bad grades and serious arguments with his mother, my teenaged grandson soon became a member of the house full-time, instead of only on weekends.

As part of his weekly chores, my grandson, now 16 years old — has to do his and his dad’s laundry every week. And my grandson has a ‘thing’ about smells. He hates clothes that smell musty or ‘off’, so he uses dryer sheets. LOTS of dryer sheets! When I’ve had to take a load out of the dryer so I can use it, sometimes I’ve counted, just for the laughs. In each load he usually adds 5–8 dryer sheets, sometimes more.

And invariably, whenever he brings a load inside the house to fold, odd dryer sheets drop here and there on the floor. One in the kitchen. One in the hallway. One or two in his room.

And to him — and my grown son too — these dryer sheets seem to be invisible!

It appears that I am the only one in the household capable of seeing these invisible items laying on the floor. Sometimes I’ve left them, just for kicks, to see if they ever get picked up by anyone else. They never do. Not until me — with my ‘all seeing-all knowing’ eyes, gives in, picks them up and throws them in the trash.

Now you may be wondering why I don’t simply point it out to them, so that they will learn to pick up the dryer sheets they leave lying on the floor. But you know, over the past two years, as we’ve all learned to live with each other and adapt to each other, this is only one very minor issue. It’s not something that bothers me enough to become a battle issue. What’s the old saying– Pick your battles? And for me, this isn’t important enough to become a source of contention between us.

It’s easier just to pick up the darn dryer sheet, after all, there’s only an odd occasional one here and there, maybe once a week or so — and laugh about it instead.

Which I have! Laughed at it that is. Now, when I spot one laying there, it brings a smile to my face and a secret little giggle. And with each one I pick up, I find myself thinking — Ah ha! I DO have secret powers!

So, thinking about it as I write this all out — maybe my new secret power isn’t the ability to spot the lone, odd dryer sheets laying on the floor. Maybe my newly acquired superpower is that I’m finally learning to adapt to life. Maybe I’ve finally learned the art of challenging what’s important and letting go of that which isn’t important.

That’s another superpower, and one that I’ll gladly accept!

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