A Tale of Two Unremarkable Weekdays

We’ve had a week of amazing weather here on the outskirts of Lovetown. Blue skies and wispy clouds, low humidity--like being in Provence or something. Yesterday was gorgeous, and I went through the day spring in my step and a song on my lips. Today was equally lovely…and yet absolutely miserable.

So yesterday: Took Henry to swim class and he jumped right in and swam like a fish. While Hank was in the water, Coco toddled around happily a grassy area nearby. There was a five-year-old kid waiting with his grandparents while his sister took a class. He played with Co a little and as we were leaving said, “Your baby’s like a lovely flower.” Romantic poetry from a kindergartner! We collected the boy and headed over to my favorite playground in a nearby town for a meetup. It’s a wonderful little oasis, and parking is at a premium after ten when the weather is fine. Miraculously, at 10:30, a nice shaded spot was open and we pulled right in.

Both kids ate lunch without complaint, took nice long naps and woke up in good spirits. While they slept, I facebooked, started a post (unfortunately did not finish), sent some emails, drank two cups of tea and did not do a lick of housework. There were a couple of notes of foreboding which I blithely chose to ignore: our more conveniently located toilet started acting up, but I was sure it was something Christian could fix and was not going to let that bring me down. Then I noticed that Hank felt a little warm after his nap, but he said he felt fine so I chalked it up to post-sleep toastiness. We merrily drove into Loserburg to Target where the kids were uncharacteristically subdued, then onto Costco where we bought frozen fish and an enormous tub of (GMO?) blueberries. We had pizza for dinner and I looked forward to an evening free of dirty dishes.

I decided to check Hank’s temp before bedtime: 102. Definitely up there, but he seemed OK so I hoped it would magically clear up overnight. No such luck. This morning, he was feverish and droopy (though fortunately no other symptoms have manifested). We had to skip swim class and cancel a playdate. Being stuck at home usually puts me in a sour mood under any circumstances. But on top of that, the beloved spouse and his snake turned out to be no match for whatever has clogged up the toilet, leaving a nasty situation which may or may not be resolved by tomorrow. But that is not all, no that is not all. The door at the bottom of the staircase finally fell apart after months of abuse from Henry. The little heathens spent the morning fighting over toys. They refused to eat lunch and mademoiselle threw food all over the kitchen. The boy declined to take a nap. The bug caught up with Coco in the afternoon, and my jolly, independent little muffin turned into a whiny clingy mess just as I was trying to prepare a nutritious dinner (which no one wanted to eat). Christian had gotten a late start and consequently had to work late, so was nowhere to be seen during the witching hour. So I once again handled dinner, bathtime and bedtime for two sick kids on my own. The house is a bloody mess and I have a bunch of wealthy Hondurans coming for lunch on Friday. How do you say plunger in Spanish?