My schedule is pretty bizarre.
I stay up quite late to work on the things I need to do that require a certain amount of focus. I wake a few hours later and feed the children and then go back to bed for a few more hours before Mark leaves.
The napping is vital.
Sometimes, I’ll try to cut down my nocturnal workload by getting some of it done in the afternoon.
Yesterday was a fine example of why this does not work.
3.06 – I decide to attempt researching some things for our upcoming move and ask the girls to just play nicely together for a while and NOT ON THE BED. Someone (Lily) always gets hurt when they play on the bed.
3:08 – I go to open the bathroom door. It’s locked. From the inside. No one is in there. Fuck.
3:09-3:20 –The children are so very quietly playing in their room now. One of them (Lily) knows they’re the one that locked the bathroom door. They know I’m frustrated because they are very empathic children. Also because I keep cursing at the door. Loudly. Also because I made a point of telling them that I AM NOT MAD AT YOU I AM JUST FRUSTRATED THAT THE DOOR IS LOCKED FOREVER NOW. Loudly.
I spent forever trying to manipulate it open with a paperclip and then opened it with a butter knife in 10 seconds.
3:25 – Violet now wants to play Roblox. She has already played for at least 2 hours. I tell her to play with her sister.
3:32- She asks to play Animal Jam. I explain to her that she will not be playing anymore video games today and to please play something else. Or draw. Or read. But shoo for now.
3:34- Lily wants to play Minecraft. I repeat what I’ve told Violet.
3:38- Violet wants to call her friend that she’s already tried calling 3 times today. I explain that calling someone is like tagging them . Repeatedly tagging someone who is already “it” is psychotic.
3:45- Lily is crying . Violet has accidentally kicked her in the chest. While playing on the bed.
I separate them. Lily is now going to paint with her watercolors at the kitchen table while I attempt to get back to my work. Just as I’m getting up to get her paints I catch her out of the corner of my eye taking one of the unbent paper clips and starting to shove it in the power outlet of my laptop. I yell something like, ‘no!‘ or ‘stop!‘ or ‘WHY?!‘ and she drops it.
Now she’s crying because I yelled at her. I hug her and explain that I wasn’t trying to scare her, but that it’s SO dangerous to put little metal things in electric things.
3: 50 – She’s painting. Violet comes in dragging her feet and sighing dramatically. I ask her if she would like to paint too. She would not. She’s so bored. So. Bored. I tell her that a fun thing she could do is gather up all the toys and gadgets she isn’t playing with so that I can donate them to children who might actually use them, because she is NOT PLAYING VIDEO GAMES RIGHT NOW.
Her eyes get wide and says that fine, she’ll go play and runs back to her room- her appreciation for her toys renewed for at least 20 minutes.
3:52 – Lily is done painting and runs to follow her sister.
They are listening to music and playing nicely again.
4:04 – There is screaming.
One of them (Lily) hit the other because apparently there can only be one baby Red Panda in their game and competition is fierce.
4:08 – I quit.
I make them a snack.
We do some arts and crafts together.
Later as I’m making dinner, Violet is playing on the computer and Lily has been under her bed, yelling, “I’M A BANANA!” over and over and laughing for like 10 minutes. I have no context for this.
It’s been summer break for two days.
Two.
