I had a slightly amusing (to me, anyway) entry about my current writing process to write, but the tall kid emotionally sucker-punched me this morning. There’s a Mother’s Day tea at his school tomorrow afternoon, and I gently explained to him that, because of the short kid and the fact that everybody else is still at work at 2:00, I probably wouldn’t be able to attend.

He got all teary-eyed and said, “Thanks for nothing.”

Oh, gee. Why don’t you stand there while I go get the dustbuster and try to clean up all the fragments of my broken heart, why dontcha?

I try never to beat my kids over the head with what I’ve given up to be a stay-at-home mom. My job, my freedom, my ability to have adult conversation on a daily basis. There’s the fact that I am 100% financially dependent on my husband, which I’ve learned from my mother’s three marriages isn’t always a great place to be.

It also means I have no child-care options. My stepmother watches them for the rare weekend occasion or Christmas shopping excursions, but she works. There’s no day-care, no nothing. Now I’m stuck trying to work up the stomach to ask a favor of somebody I don’t want to ask a favor from. Uck, uck and more uck.

So, anyway. Funny may come later today. Hopefully.

UPDATE: My stepmother, who managed to decipher my sobbings on the phone, has generously offered to take the short kid with her to my little sister’s private school interview. Hopefully he won’t take this opportunity to show off his stellar vocabulary. *g*

I don’t know why it surprises me still that I’m on call for everybody in the world 24/7—running errands, picking up kids, waiting for cable guys—but there’s never anybody around on the rare occasion I need help. Except for my stepmother/best friend. She just totally rocks. :nod:

(And not just because she saved me from having to knock on a door I didn’t really want to knock on.)