Maddie stirs in the monitor, hugely amplified. Jane slams the door next door, on her way to another mysterious destination at 3:17 AM. The dogs at the foot of the bed decide to have an early morning sparring match, complete with snarls and multiple shaking fits, as if they were drenched.
Alarm clock. Loud. Snooze. Five times. Somebody died. Somebody famous. And some freeway is closed because of a fatal accident, but I was too sleepy to hear which one. Sit up. More action with the dogs, excited to start their stress-free, action-packed day.
Shower. Cereal. No, cereal first. Maybe coffee. Can't remember.
Zach sleeps like one of those big carved rocks on Easter Island.
Morning chaos as six mammals converge downstairs for a hurried exchange of shuffling, eating, peeing, teeth-brushing, dressing, and packing of lunches. Kiss the furless mammals and pet the furry mammals goodbye. Don't mix that up again. Very bad.
Traffic is bad, flowing like fudge in the freezer. Feels like that fatal accident may have been on 6-96. Or maybe it's just normal.
Zach wants music. Zach doesn't want to go to school.
Drop off is a little late, but not too late for a pink tardy slip. Hopefully.
Traffic to work is really bad. Is it because of the time? No, that fatal accident MUST have been I-75. Yes, very bad traffic. Worse than normal.
I think. I can't really remember.
Oh, sweet. The on-ramp to I-94 is closed. No warning, and probably for a few months. Must remember that tomorrow. But for now, bigger problems. I need to negotiate a city-crossing on side streets. Add one hour.
Work is busy. Busy with meetings, where the minutes are kept and the hours are lost. Arguments, Parrying. Guessing. Plans within plans. Plans that will never work.
Traffic home is worse than the morning. That is normal. There is a guy driving next to me, reading a paperback book, on the phone. Not unusual.
But, if you don't mind too much, stay in your lane, chatty reader.
Groceries. Must get food. Lot is crammed with cars. Seems everyone needs food. And they need it today.
Dinner. It used to be relaxing. It sometimes still is. Not today though, not today.
Eat it, Zach, I know you are not hungry, but you will be.
Homework. Kids playing. TV on, work on photos. Dogs are noisy animals. Coco is crying for some reason. Food? Water? Maddie likes playing in the water dish. The mushrooms need attention. Heather needs to call the realtor. I need to call that guy from Craigslist back, and clean off the bike rack we're selling and measure the shelves we're selling and clean everything off and get him directions and don't forget to give him my number and the keys for the bike rack are in my pocket and if I forget to give them to him I will have to mail them or deliver them and there is so much more to do before the house really looks ok to sell and Maddie has a tooth coming in and Zach wants to play HeroScape but he has homework and I need to read the stack of papers sent home by school and respond to them by some unknown soon future date and Zach wants ice cream but he didn't eat dinner and soon it will be time for Maddie to go to bed and she doesn't like when we close baby gates because that limits her access to the dog dishes and Heather looks so tired and she still has a couple hours of reports to do for work and I need to get some portfolio or proof set online and email the customer to make sure they got it and liked them and loved them and need them and pay me and they seem to need a lot of help picking out proofs and there goes Maddie, kissing everyone goodnight and off she goes and now it's time to start Zach thinking of going bedwards but he hasn't had time to play because homework is not done yet so homework gets done fast now and then a little bit of a movie or show and some Nintendo DS and it's time for him to get ready for bed and brush teeth but now he is starving and stalling and he needs a snack or he will go to bed hungry and this delays things and makes us all even more tired and harder to extract from bed tomorrow morning, but we trudge on and he can't find jammies because they are all hidden under his bed and then he needs to read and be read to and finally he is asleep and Heather comes out of Maddie's room looking even more tired and now she needs to start her reports and I haven't started my photo stuff yet so we work on that and the dogs haven't eaten today and the house looks so messy.
Eventually, bedtime. But we're both wired and need to relax. So books and electronic planners and magazines are brought out to force us to relax.
Sleep. Finally.
Was that the baby monitor?
Crying. Zach's awake too.
Was that Jane's door? Where is she going at...yikes. Is it that late?
Oops. Forgot to give that guy the bike rack keys...
1 comment:
I may be the only one who actually reads this entire post. But I can do that. My children are away at school and no longer children. So, really, I have nothing to do except go to work, which is a five minute drive through beautiful deer and turkey graced hardwoods and past a lovely view of Little Traverse Bay with the early morning sun glistening on the water. Soon the leaves will be warm shades of maroon, gold, and pumkin orange and the sparkles on Lake Michigan will give way to mysterious tufts of autumn fog that swirl in the center of the bay from west to east. On the way home I will stop at the beach and run on the shore and up the dunes to clear my mind and body of work related stress. Then I'm ready to go home, feed the cat, and have a small glass of wine before deciding which vegetable to put on the grill and what herb to harvest from my garden to complement the other ingredients of my supper. Or shall I just have a bowl of cereal? It's my call. All mine. When I get weary and slip between the crisp linens all clean and cool and calm, there aren't any pudgy little baby cheeks to kiss goodnight or big, wondering blue eyes to watch me read classics out loud. Because, remember, my children are away at school and they aren't children anymore. Make no mistake, I am happy in this time of my life and savor the freedom and quiet of the everydays. But I embraced motherhood like I thought no one had ever done before and those will always be the most memorable moments of my life. Your children won't be children forever. So don't forget to shake off the stress and look past the drudgery every now and then, even if just for a moment, and remind yourself these are the "good old days".
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