This morning during the hour I spend with my children before they go to school it occurred to me that the difference between working and being a stay at home mother is that at least in an office you have some control over events.
OK so things can go wrong in an office, especially on a magazine. You’re about to go to press and you realise you have five less pages of ads than you had that morning. Or someone files some copy that is unreadable. Or the cover story about Jennifer Aniston is suddenly out of date because she has turned lesbian and moved in with Jodie Foster. But at least you are dealing with (normally) rational people and chances are you won’t have more than a few disasters a week.
This morning was an orgy or problems. Leo woke us all up at 6am by putting the TV on full blast. Then Bea lost her homework, then Olivia went semi-hysterical because she didn’t want to go to school, then she calmed down at which point Leo called her a doughnut which sent her into another frenzy and then she started playing the piano which Bea wanted to do and so on and so forth.
“What if daddy and I behaved like this?” I yelled.
But we don’t. Mainly because he was out playing golf. Mental note to self: take up golf.
Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2009
Hi Helena,
Why would being called a doughnut freak Olivia out? I must congratulate Leo for his choice of insult but did he add anything to that? Was it a frosted doughnut? Filled with cream or jam? Sticky?
U T
And the thoughts of having to go and do a day’s work after all that! Sometimes it’s good to escape to the office though, isn’t it? mimi