“She Said to No one in Particular” is what I actually say out loud to no one in particular as I walk around the house. I say this because no one in my house, except my dogs and my bearded dragon, actually listens or even cares about what I have to say.
I believe this is true because without me the dogs and lizard would have to fend for themselves. My husband and children can pretty much take care of themselves, so whatever I have to say doesn’t really matter.
After Veronica was born I remember asking the pediatrician how children learn to speak. He told me that I should narrate everything I do and eventually she’d learn what certain words meant and, because she’d hear them so often, begin to repeat what she heard. I began to narrate and kept on narrating after Lucas was born 4 years later. I guess I just never stopped.
Being a writer is a great way for me to “speak.” I’ve always known that I’m much more comfortable saying what I have to say on a page than out loud. However, being human, I have a need to communicate. It’s a total bummer that no one in the house seems to care.
So, to soften the blow of my narration being ignored, I began to narrate that my narration was spoken to no one in particular. I now end just about everything I say with, “she said to no one in particular.”
And, wouldn’t you know it? That’s the thing my family seems to pay attention to. In fact, I’ll occasionally hear no one in particular say along with me, “she said to no one in particular.” I know it’s not the dogs or the lizard, so someone is actually listening to me long enough to know that when I’m finished speaking to no one in particular that’s his or her cue to say, “she said to no one in particular.”