Friday, January 27, 2006

A Day In The Life

Date, this Wednesday.

Up at 8am, kids are half-ready for school. Make lunches, inspect teeth and hair, pile three children into the van and off to school.

Back home again by 9am, I work on my computer (I have a marketing company) while juggling requests for snacks, glasses of juice, and listening to long rambling stories about the last episode of Crazy Town. It's now 11:30, time to get me and the four year old dressed - preschool starts at 12:30. I have plans to go to the bank, return movies, go for a long walk and get some more work done while he's in school so get my gear together for that as well.

Half-dressed and the phone is ringing: husband has a tummy ache and needs to be picked up from work. No, not after I drop off the boy at school, before. Throw on a hat, pull on pants, chuck a cereal bar and some milk into a lunchbox, hurl boy into the van. Race downtown to make this unscheduled pick up, race back uptown to school - boy is safe in Preschool, we made it on time. Make sick husband wait in the van while I return the movies but scrap the bank for today. The walk will have to be around the neighbourhood instead of at the park as planned.

Home again, husband tucked into the couch with a blanket, walk finished, I try to get some work done while juggling requests for soup, tea, and listening to long rambling stories about the sports highlights. I lay down on the other couch and try to catch a 20 minute power nap before I have to go get the kids.

It's now 2:45, time for the pick-up routine to start. I drive to the Preschool, pick up boy, drive to the Elementary school, pick up big kids. Back home and it is time to get dinner started because I have to work tonight at my other job. (I work in a little British pub two nights a week because, you know, they have grown ups there - and no kids.)

Big kids are doing their homework, dinner is on the stove, all husband has to do is dish it out when they're ready to eat - the house is quiet. I check on him before running out the door to pull a 7 hour shift on my feet slinging drinks and he looks up at me and says: You should really make more time for yourself. You wouldn't be so tired if you went to the gym every day.

...and then I wraped my cold hands around his skinny little neck and killed him.