It rained and snowed and generally made a big, dangerous mess on the roads all day yesterday, thereby rendering me unable to take the children out of the house for Day 2 of winter break. It was a long, loud, acrimonious day.
At 4:45 p.m. I was literally throwing dinner together--throwing random things in a pan with some meat and throwing peeled potatoes in water--while Jack crawled around on the floor at my feet playing with empty beer bottles. Cubby and Charlie were fighting in a chair in the dining room, until Cubby got up and ran into the living room, slamming the door behind him so hard that Charlie couldn't open it to run after him and continue screaming.
So instead he came into the kitchen and cried and screamed at me to open up the door for him. He did this for the last few minutes I was trying to finish up what I was doing. Jack ceased his relatively calm beer-bottle play and remembered that he was teething, so he resumed the forlorn wailing that had been his soundtrack all day.
I finally got all the food going and left the kitchen. I walked straight through the living room with a half-hearted, "Why did you slam the door on Charlie? No, never mind. I don't care," at Cubby as I continued upstairs with Charlie screaming behind me.
I went right into my bedroom with Jack and locked the door.
Oh yes. I did.
I was only in there for literally one minute. Just long enough to lie down on the bed and collect myself. Then I unlocked the door, took Charlie's hand (of course he had followed me upstairs--he was screaming outside the door for the entire minute), sat down in the living room, and spent the next half an hour with Charlie in my lap, jouncing Jack up and down on my knees and running through my extensive repertoire of children's songs.
Winter break is continuing to be hell on earth so far.
But! We have friends coming to play today, and we're going to different friends to play tomorrow. Then there's a program at the library on Friday featuring actual (small) wild animals and THEN it will be the weekend. Which means Daddy Time.
The end is in sight. Alleluia, pass the gin.
3 comments:
Cannot even comprehend the total level of sound and chaos, combined with the unremitting exposure time. The amount of control involved to keep it all together with all that sound and chaos is finite, and you're to be applauded for not throwing them both in their bedroom and locking the door. OK, may be that's an option in the future when they're bigger.
Just five more years and you're golden.
oh, may every blessing rain down upon you and your little ones.
I have never understood how parents and grade school teachers manage and survive. I hope you can declare 'recess' tomorrow for a bit. Outdoors.
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