I try to think of things that rise above the fray - but this week has just been so much freakin' fun!
If you just came for the car story, scroll down.
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Yesterday. Monday. It started with a mundane case of the Monday's, where no one got enough sleep and we were all cranky and the coffee wasn't serving up magic. Feeling all bad about ourselves, annoyed that the baby smeared baby-goo on my dress pants, and that I don't have house-elves to do the dishes before I wake up.
Slow, like molasses through a straw, I get everyone in coats, lunches packed, socks and shoes on the right feet even, hats, do we need mittens?, snacks for the baby, is that my cell phone ringing?, where is it? In the closet in my coat... ok... Oh dear, it's the nanny. She's feeling ill. Thankfully not canceling the day, just showing up 45 minutes late.
We screech to a halt. I pause to remind myself to be kind about this hiccup, since the poor lady is sick and is still coming in. Then I sort the logistics to try and still get to work on time... which I realize will be impossible. I'll drop WeeE at school first, then go back to the nanny, then to work... and I'll hope to only be 45 minutes late myself. Maybe. Crap!
We kill 30 minutes then drag back into jackets, hats, mittens, backpacks, flowers for school.... when I hear the land-line ring. We do the phone search again: where did WeeC take the phone? Behind the end table? Why is WeeE's school calling? Oh dear, school is closed today because the brand new boiler won't fire and the school is a crisp 40 degrees F.
We screech to a second halt. WTF do you do? We are literally walking out the door. I have no anger for the school; this is just the way the cookie crumbled. Do I cancel my day at work? My "new" job, the one I am incredibly grateful for. I'll already be a half hour late. I call Bill but realize there is nothing he can do. He's not in a position to cancel classes for the day, plus with the storms, Monday's classes are very behind. Balancing all things, it makes the most sense for me to be the one late, for me to be the one taking my daughter to the office.
And that is what I do.
So I pack up a third time. This time I pack up WeeE's laptop (with the butterfly on it) and her headphones and some more snack, colored pencils, sticker book, stuffed animal for a nap. I drop WeeC off with the sick sneezing nanny, who should have taken the day off but I'm grateful she didn't, which I suspect makes me a bad person. I take WeeE to the office and set her up at a spare desk with computer videos, games, and snack. When time comes, I arrange coats in front of my desk and she takes a short nap. I try to carve a normal day out and wonder, am I balancing this? Or is this a failure of balance? Do I need to make changes, to have more contingency plans, more places to stick my kids when things go wrong? Does my boss care?
and I wrap up the day by driving the nanny home (she deserved a break) and getting the kids (Old) McDonald's for dinner. I crawl into bed at 8:30 pm, exhausted.
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Tuesday! No sleep for the weary, or at least not enough. One kid up, then two kids uo, then one dog had a freaky anxiety attack and whimpered for a half hour, than the other dog woke the kid who crawled into bed with us, so I had to put the dog in his box.... then morning. Rise and shine, campers! Pretend you are rested, drink the coffee and get a move on.
As mornings go, it was smooth. We ran a bit late, so Bill opted to drop WeeE at school. They crawl into the car... and I notice they are not driving off. Hmmm.... still not driving off. I begin to sorry, suspect something amiss. Bill returns with the news: Our (one and only) car was broken into and in addition to the "normal" riffling of our coins and whatnot, they actually tried to steal it. It's not the first break-in, but it is the first attempt to STEAL the car. From the looks, they beat the ignition with a screwdriver and got into the casing... Ok, here's what maybe funny. If the car had started, Bill would have probably driven the kid to school and told me when he got home. But he can't start the car... so we screech to another halt and have to sort out how to get everything done without a car.
First school: We get a neighbor to take WeeE to school.
Then the cops: No sign of forced entry, so it's possible I left it unlocked. Still wrong to break in! Since we smeared all the evidence before we realized the break-in, there is little reason to call in the crime unit.
Then insurance: our coverage doesn't include this. Might call homeowners.
Then car shops and dealers: One says it's an anti-theft device that was tripped and I need to tow to a dealer. Another points out that we don't have fancy fobs, so there is no anti-theft device. Walking us through, we get the car started and running! We come to suspect that the car was successfully started by the thieves... but maybe then they realized it was a MANUAL? That they can't drive it!? That's my theory, though I'm not sure i can prove it.
Tomorrow I'll take it to the shop. I'm grateful it drives, the logistics are back to normal for a few hours...
and I'd like the rest of the week to just chill out!
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