Handful of Needs
“Have fun at work, babe.”
The door closes with a hollow sound. I linger there, allowing myself a moment of despair. Then I straighten my back, lock the door, and put on my game face.
Snatching a banana on my way through the kitchen, I find Scarlett on the couch in the living room. Wagging the banana before her eyes, I sing,
“Eating a banana will make you toot!”
“Silly Mommy!” Scarlett turns to me with a smile. She takes the banana, and I am off to check on Owen.
The mornings are the hardest. From the moment I open my eyes (generally around 6:00, when Owen wakes up) I feel like I’m running in a relay race. Except I’m the only runner on the team.
And coming into the back stretch, it’s Patti. Patti is moving well, changing that baby, getting him dressed, and there he goes into the bouncer as Patti moves toward the closet. It looks like she’s going to get herself dressed- but wait, there’s Scarlett waking up. She’s calling her mom, she’s standing in her crib.
And here’s the handoff, Patti pulls a diaper out of a basket. She reaches out with the diaper and hands off to.. Patti!
It takes all of my concentration to dash from child to child to dog to dishes, to keep everyone fed, rested, exercised, educated, dressed, and entertained.
Occasionally, I think about the things I need for myself. A workout, a haircut. Time to write. Sleep. But with all the plates I’ve got in the air, it’s easy to let those things slip to the back of my mind- to forget about them long enough to get through another day.
