But Then You Might Want to Know What My Secret Is...

Well, my one job today, besides looking for a job, was to wake the children early to get them back into the habit of rising in time for school. The added benefit would be that they might go to bed at a decent hour.

If you look carefully, you might see that MathMan and I have somewhat thrown in the towel on the whole parenting thing. Oh the things I haven't told you.....

So this morning, I managed, but only just. All three children were awakened well before 1 o'clock pee em. Each was handed a cup of piping hot chocolate. Whipped cream and marshmallows were proffered. Cinnamon rolls had been freed from their cardboard tube and baked, if you can call it that, to just the acceptable amount of doughyness. Hey - it's how they take their tubular baked goods. What can I say? I decided long ago to choose my battles. The doneness of cinnamon rolls is not something I'm going to fret about when there are bigger issues like how many viewing hours of Yo' Mama is acceptable and what are the merits of this or that type of birth control.

Icing was spread on the gooey pinwheels. Rolls were distributed. They took their places around the table and stared out the window at the many and varied birds who were hopping about on the feeder which dangles from the side of the upper deck. That sounds as if we live on the Love Boat. Sadly, we do not. It's just another run-of-the-mill raised ranch in a middling subdivision in the Georgia. We do, though, have an upper and a lower deck. But no Lido Deck. And no Gopher, Captain Stubing, Julie or Isaac. Although---MathMan can shake a damn good martini.

Oh, foo, where was I? Oh, yes, telling you tales of my darling poppets as they burned their tongues sipped their hot chocolate and stared, unblinking out the window which always looks a bit too dark because it's coated in that sunblock stuff. Which, BTW, goes all gnarly when licked with a cat tongue.

They, the children, didn't have much to say at 8:45 a.m.

I filled the void by holding forth on some ideas to get us through the day without using violence or too many bad names. You see, we have this last day to enjoy each others company before Chloe goes back to Brenau and the other two start back with classes. MathMan, that poor, poor man, had to go to school today for meetings and such. I admit, I envy him not one little bit.

Included in my list is some reading time, some movie time, several games of Canasta (that's where the bad names might come into play), perhaps a trip to town (dear lord, we are so Green Acres), and then nap time. Because after getting up at 5:30 this morning with MathMan, I'm already feeling like I've put in a full day. People, it's 10:30 a.m.

It doesn't seem possible that just a couple of days ago, I stayed in my sleeping gear until well past two in the afternoon, lolling among the comforter and sheets, reading over two hundred pages of a novel to finish it in a single day. That is the first time I've done that this millennium. It could definitely become a habit.

So here we are, the day staring us down. Dinner has already been dispatched since I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup yesterday and went crazy and made some chicken salad, too. (Dear young chicken - thank you for being so meaty and delicious.) We just need to fill the day with wholesome, family-unity moments that they will remember for the rest of their lives. Isn't that the way I'm supposed to approach this? I'm so shaky with the prescribed good mom stuff.

Anyway, I've taken an informal survey and reading time has been vetoed. What a bunch of poops. They're split on movie time because we can't yet get a consensus on what to watch. Nap time is a definite. So is Canasta. They're always up for an opportunity to beat each other using acceptable means. But for now, they're ready to shower and get out of the house. Fair enough. I'll just take a book with me.