Yesterday James asked me to give him a haircut. Right after we had had an argument. 'Brave man,' I thought. It was a trivial (drink) little tiff, but I was still a little edgy. As I started to buzz away, I briefly considered etching something into the back of his head. "Kick Me," for example. Or, if I could figure out how to fit it, "I have the Corona Virus." Instead I gave him a bowl cut.
I guess I need to work on my fading skills. And James needs to work on his timing skills. In other personal appearance news, I woke up this morning with a big honking zit. It's a legit teenage (drink) pustule and it made it's appearance the day before my big virtual storytelling debut. That's right - tomorrow night I'm one of several women who will be sharing stories of parenthood on a live stream event called Listen to Your Mother. Starring my pimple. I urge you to tune in, but try not to focus on my mouth. On the plus side, if I go out in public, no one will see it. Score point for masks.
Maybe the pimple is a result of the permanent scowl I have on my face. Kaleb seemed a little scared of me when he asked for toast this morning. And according to him, I'm always angry.
I feel pretty bad. The poor kid is scared to ask for toast. He's afraid his request will be the last straw because nobody knows when mom's going to snap. I've got to figure out how to (drink) shed this crappy mood. It's just that I am so sick of the constant bickering. It's not just the bickering, though. It's listening to them (drink) tell their side of the story. "She always gets to be the penguin and I always have to be the snail and then she pulled my hair and..." "But she said I want to marry broccoli and have a spinach baby." "So? Snails like broccoli." "Grrrr." Stomping. Slamming. Crying. All over a spinach baby. (Drink)
The middle school principal (drink) puts out an email update with an inspiring quote each day. Today's quote was, "A bad attitude is like a flat tire - you can't go anywhere until you change it." True. Unfortunately, I can't find a jack. Perhaps I need to look to the kids for inspiration. I mean, not the fighting. Or demanding food all the time. But maybe I need to focus on the cute stuff they do. Like....
I don't know how they figured out how to add all these filters. It's somewhat disruptive to receive about 80 of these pictures a day from these two, but they do make me smile.
Later, I was walking past Paige's room and heard her playing You are my Sunshine on her flute. Another smile. I knocked on the door hoping to capture the song on video. But she was (drink) in the middle of a music class and shooed me away, glaring at me as she paused the video feed. I guess I'm super embarrassing. Plus the zit. But THEN the mail arrived with a package for her. I sensed an (drink) opportunity. Once her class ended, I brought her the package but told her she couldn't open it unless she let me video her playing You are my Sunshine. She rolled her eyes. Turns out, it wasn't You are my Sunshine. It was This Land is Your Land. Oh well. It will always be You are my Sunshine to me.
A notable shift in my mood is happening as the day evolves. There's a good chance things take another turn, but that's the name of the game these days. Some moments I'm sitting in the car with a flat tire and no (drink) jack. The next moment, I'm cruising along on my spare, nothing but open road ahead. But I don't have another spare and I'm not sure how much mileage this doughnut can handle. One way or the other, we'll arrive at our destination.