This really should probably be a dually-authored post, since my sister, Bayou Woman, and I are co-discoverers of this malady.  Well, we came up with the acronym anyway.  Before I tell you what the acronym stands for and to help you determine if you also suffer from this blight on humanity, see if any of this sounds familiar.

Scenario 1 - Laundry time!  I hear the buzzer on the washer go off and dutifully pad into the laundry room to transfer the clothes to the dryer.  Wait, I have to put the clothes from the dryer into the laundry basket first.  There.  With dryer door ajar so that I can efficiently toss the wet clothes in with one deft motion, I raise the lid of the washer only to find it - EMPTY!  I had washed a whole load of nothing!  I had gone through the motions, put the detergent in, closed the lid, turned it on, but I had forgotten to put any clothes in. 

I was so embarrassed I didn't tell anyone for a long time.  What was happening to me?

Scenario 2 - "It's a beautiful day today," I thought to myself as I crossed the parking lot.  I was glad to have gotten some errands behind me.  I was feeling pretty pleased with myself as I walked up to the passenger side door and opened it to get in.  That's when I realized I was alone.  I had come shopping by myself; there was nobody with me.  As nonchalantly as possible, I closed the door and surreptitiously glanced around as I walked around the back of the car to get in on the driver's side.  Fortunately, there were few shoppers out that day, but I felt like a complete idiot.

Scenario 3 - Now this one happens all the time in one variation or another:  I go into the laundry room where the deep freeze is to get something out to thaw for dinner.  As I walk in I see that the clothes have finished drying, so I begin folding them and hanging them up.  As I take towels to put in the hall bathroom, I notice that the counter needs to be straightened.  That done, I pop into the office to quickly check my email and you know where that leads.  Finally back in the laundry room to finish up, I suddenly remember my original purpose in coming in there in the first place - to take something out for dinner.

I do this one all the time except that I don't always remember the original task that I had intended to do.

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone?  Just the other morning, as I was getting ready for the day (I had decided to work from home), something interrupted me, and I forgot to put on my makeup.  It wasn't until that afternoon when I went to get my jacket from the closet, and I passed through the bathroom, that I realized I didn't have any makeup on!  And the only reason I knew that was because my eye shadow was laying on the vanity counter just waiting for me.  I glanced in the mirror and sure enough.  No makeup.  I am still puzzled as to why I didn't put it on.  I simply can't remember.

So, what do Bayou Woman and I call these lapses of memory?  I'm sure you've all heard the phrase "senior moments"?  Well, HISMs are Hormonally-Induced Senior Moments.  And we named them this because hormones get wacky as you approach middle age, and that's all we could deduce might be causing such memory gaffes.  What other explanation could there be?

We laugh, Bayou Woman and I, because it's better than crying or worrying about it.  But I wonder sometimes if it's not the effects of living life today in a society that is wound just a little too tight.  The scary thing about HISMs is that you never know when you'll have another one.  They can't be anticipated because you don't realize they happen until they've happened.

We've had many HISM laughs over the years.  How about you?  Experience any HISMS lately and want to share?