Journal entry from July 27, 2012
I'm sitting at the kitchen table amidst the afternoon's play detritus, temporarily ignoring the kids and the dogs to write. Muppets from Space and the dogs' play-fighting are in the background, along with a slightly off-balance washing machine and a dryer in which I appear to have loaded at least a small handful of change.
Don’t even get pencil to paper before I pause to change a diaper. How can that small of a person make that big of a mess? And why does he always manage to put a foot into the poopy mess just when I’m almost finished?
Pause to get out colouring books and markers, have Thing One argue with me about stickers he thinks we’ve brought to the lake (but which are actually in his art box at home), and to tell him three times that he can’t play with my iPhone (and delete all of my contacts for the umpteenth time). Then pause to help him put his colouring stuff away when he decides that he doesn’t want to colour after all.
Pause to take Thing One to the potty. Try to figure out how he manages to pee all over the wall and completely miss the toilet.
Remember I haven't checked the septic lift station yet today. Brace myself to leave the air conditioned house for the heat and humidity to check the holding tank. Needs to be pumped. Wait (and fry) for the five minutes it takes to pump it, obsessively checking the baby monitor to make sure the boys aren't trying to kill each other. Trudge back inside. Look longingly at beer in the fridge, then think about all the stuff I need to do tonight. Decide to-do list trumps beer (but barely).
Move trucks off pad of paper, pause to rescue chipboard "W" from puppy's mouth, find her food, and feed her. Set timer for ten minutes so I won't forget to take her out (and thus have to clean up poop).
Pause to recheck the day's list of writing prompts. Laugh when I see "How many times do I have to tell you" as a prompt. I must've said that at least four times today.
Write 97 words.
Pause to kiss a bruised toe and set Thing Two's train set up on the table beside me.
Pause to turn off buzzer and let puppy out to poop. Try to figure out where Dad moved the poop bags. Clean up poop. Crate puppy. Move trains off legal pad and rescue pencil from Thing Two.
Write 282 words. Complete scene.
Pause to make supper for the boys. Reset breaker (blown by running microwave and a/c at the same time ... you'd think I'd know by now). Admonish Thing Two for driving Tonka dump truck up fridge door.
Clean up water from floor at base of water cooler. Determine Thing Two has been drinking straight from cooler tap. Yuck. Tell him "No," rather firmly. He starts to cry. Hug. "It's okay, but no more drinking from the cooler taps, okay little man?" He nods, face still streaming crocodile tears.
Finish cooking and plate supper. Thing One informs me that he doesn't want supper. Resist urge to tell him about all the starving children in Africa.
Change laundry. Hope septic pump holds out at least another day, as there are at least two more loads that need to be done. Try to track down smell in laundry room (not dirty laundry). Discover rotten potato. Remove. Mop floor. Put laundry on bed to fold later.
Sweep rice up from floor around Thing Two. Wonder if he actually ate any of it or if he just threw fistfuls in the air while I was in the laundry room. Pause to clean up salt shaker youngest has emptied onto table whilst I was putting the broom and dustpan away.
Pause for truck races (over my foot--ouch!), dishes, pyjamas, potty, teeth brushing, stories, and tucking in. Another pause for milk and snack for eldest.
Yet another pause to close the front gate. How the heck did that end up open? Keep eldest dog from escaping, again.
Write 685 words. Finish scene.
No comments:
Post a Comment