Apparently, that really stupid movieI went to see last month is wrong. The world doesn’t end this October—it’s next week, or maybe the week after.
Evidence: The economy’s crashing and taking my bank account with it, it does nothing but rain and flood here, Carl routinely forgets to flush, and oh, yeah: we’re suddenly in swine flu annex! Two neighborhood schools are closed already with suspected cases. My kids' school can’t be far behind. My friends who work in essential-function jobs (healthcare) are calling to set up back-up childcare plans. Unfortunately, the two-day meeting I don’t want to attend this weekend is still on, but I'm guessing the whole city will be in lock-down mode by next week.
What really irks me is that I have been making big plans, people, and I want them to work out. First, we just shelled out to join a new pool for the summer, and I am guessing it’s the sort of recreation that’ll get ixnayed once people start getting sick. Second, I have my sort-of-annual Mommy is Going Away Trip in two weeks. I’m going to San Antonio with a friend or two for a spa day, and the art museum, and the sleeping late and the book reading and margarita drinking, with a stop at the outlet mall on the way home. Third, I’m going to see my sisters and my favorite uncle in June, plus (fourth) we’re taking a tiny family weekend at some waterpark later that month (bet that’s a good virus-transmission environment!). Fifth, in July, there’s a big, hugely exciting family reunion for which I just bought plane tickets. Sixth, I have an idea for a little vaycay in August, too.
Tantrum over. Here is a status update by family member:
Rod: Goes to work in his fireproof coveralls most days, so there must be some serious engineering going on. Got some more prizes for filing patents (new foodprocessor, yay!) He’s also working on some household fixing-up and cranking hard on his Daddy role. Lately, he’s earned bonus points for letting me sleep a little late and getting the kids ready for school most mornings—I got some muscle relaxants to experiment with for the back/hip pain and they make me really woozy in the mornings. I think I won't be refilling that prescription.
Me: Some days, it seems like my whole life revolves around shopping, laundry, cooking, and child-chauffeuring. But then I also go to many meetings for a couple of school-related committees, and I go to the doctor: I’m going to get weight loss surgery in the fall, and although I don’t think my insurance will ultimately pay, I’m doing my best to persuade them, and my, there’s a long list of stupid things they requre before they will even entertain the petition, plus I try to schedule all my non-urgent medical care during the school year (dentist, endodontist, dermatologist, scoliosis guy, routine physical etc.). Feeling cash-poor, I sold some of my kids’ excess stuff on eBay, which involves trips to the post office.
Ruby: Seems to be in a better mood lately. She finishes a month of swimming lessons tonight. Next week will be rough; she has her “gifted and talented” project due, and her dance class has rehearsals every night and a big-deal sold-out performance at a real theater on Thursday. (Assuming no swine-flu shelter-in-place order, mind you.) Her G&T project is supposed to be about wild and domestic cats and what would happen if you take a domestic cat and put it in the wild or vice versa. Somehow, it has morphed into a really funny poster Ruby drew of a cat giving birth, plus a “gym class” she wants to lead consisting of cat-like motions, and maybe a video of our cats doing something. Rod and I try to help or advise and she gets mad. I know there are no grades, but I really don’t know what realistic expectations are for this sort of thing.
Carl: He has been saving his $3-a-week allowance, along with any gift money, any change he finds, and any incentive bribes (I gave him a bonus one week for behaving for the babysitter). He has about $35 saved, I think. What he is saving for changes from one Lego set to another several times a week. Last weekend, he did buy one small set for about $7, which surprised me because he didn’t waiver at all on the Lego aisle about what he was getting and how much money he had. Carl is making huge progress in swimming lessons, too. He’s such a cute, smart kid, and lots of fun. Except lately he’s been getting disproportionately upset over minor things, like me telling him “no,” or having an accidental collision with someone at school and crying because he thinks he’s in trouble for it. I can’t wait for this phase to pass, because it takes sooooo loooong to calm him down and get him to express himself in words, not shrieking and tears and pounding fists.
So, there you have it. Normal life. Plus a hint of impending doom. How are things with you?