We have just experienced two weeks in the Purgatory of marriage. You twisted your neck. When you finally couldn’t move it anymore, without getting a nasty attitude, you agreed to see your doctor. She gave you wonderful meds that made you the loopy physicist few have known 🙂 Praises be to the goddesses!
I decided to play the role of ‘good wife’. I took over everything physical – including our morning babysitting of the 7 month old. Oh! That was fun. She’s darling! The greatest thing since sliced bread! And…she’s heavy and thinks I can breast feed her. She’s teething upper teeth and she had a cold. I had to get her toddler brother ready for pre-school while the father took the 5-year-old to kindergarten. Sigh.
Toddler brother decided that, because silent you wasn’t there, he wouldn’t talk. He’d use sign language instead. And then there was the pooping on the floor incident. One of the best two weeks of my life.
This morning you felt better. This was a good for me because it was some sort of non-school day (wtf are those all about – excuse me?) All three kids of this lil family – home. 5-year-old girl, 3-year-old boy, 7- month -old girl. OMG!
The double stroller wasn’t together. Well – as far as we could see, it wasn’t together. The 5-year-old swore she could help you. Hahaha! She was very anxious to get to Starbucks 😛
The stroller was a 3 wheeled double-wide jogging stroller. The front wheel didn’t pivot? Or, as you and the 5 yr old said “It’s sort of working.”
And then anyone with toddlers can imagine the sugar rush after a visit to Starbucks and a chocolate croissant split 4 ways. Can anyone tell me how a tiny squirt of chocolate cream can create such messy faces? That’s ok. Someone spilled their water so I used a wet napkin to wipe off any chocolate evidence.
Were I any other customer, this would not be the Friday morning I’d have chosen to have a quiet morning at Starbucks. Sigh.
Four days off. We love the two families we work with. Not only are the parents just so so sooooo sweet but…so are their children. Poop on the floor and all.
Oh! I forgot to mention the 16 toddlers we watched – with a few other adults – yesterday. Ohhhhh!!!!! Ommmmm. Ommmmm…..
Have I mentioned I’m a night owl and not a morning person and that we do this three hours a day, three mornings a week – beginning at 7:30AM?
In two years we’ll stop this. These will be out last little families. Once the babies begin pre-school…that’s what we’re saying now. Kids keep a person young-minded though. They keep the body limber. Well, I just read the last part back to you and you said ‘except for my neck’.
I’m going to write a real short story over these next four days. I’m going to work on some writing prompts here on Word Press. I’m taking a writing retreat.
It’s very romantic to be the ‘good wife’. I think I’ve helped you feel better…
Ellespeth ♥
Views From A Poet 
Wow. That’s certainly an adventure. Makes my morning of ‘I cleaned my blankie!’ very mild. If you ever figure out an answer to that chocolate syrup question then let me know. It’s like kids can make a wide mess with anything.
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It was comical. It was horrible. We survived and I licked some chocolate cream off my finger.
Ellespeth
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Breathe….and….breathe….This is a wonderful thing you’re doing for these families and for your community. Childcare costs are obscene. I know I couldn’t afford to return to work at one point because the childcare costs involved – I needed daycare, afterschool, preschool – outweighed my wages. I’d have been working for pennies.
Juggling all the ages and the chocolate faces and the poop and well, everything, is a major task so it’s even more amazing what you’re both doing. Kudos to you. And I hope your husband’s sore neck departs for keeps. All hands are needed on deck with wee ones for sure. 🙂
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Oh! I think I’m breathing again….it’s been nuts for the past few weeks.
Ellespeth
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You have 3 little ones? How on earth do you find time to get on WordPress and write stories?? Do you sleep? Haha!
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OMG no! We are retired and helping two families until all of their children are in pre-school. We also help out, at a church twice a week, so the mothers can have a prayer group. We don’t volunteer our time but pretty close to it. Parents should not have to spend half of their income on childcare. It’s really unreal what babysitters charge here in Silicon Valley. Close to sinful.
Ellespeth
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That certainly is kind of you to be helping out these families with small children. Especially 2 families!
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It’s the least we can do for our community.
Ellespeth
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You’re very sweet. 🙂
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