It started out as a bad day and proceeded steadily to the extreme. I was out of my office at meetings in another building all morning and when I finally got in there was a harried message left on my voicemail. "The kids are being so absolutely horrible that I'm not taking them to the aquarium like I planned today. Wish you were in so you could talk to them." [Read "yell at them"]
A couple hours later I get another call., this time in tears. Unobserved, L had put an entire roll of toilet paper in the master bathroom toilet and flushed, overflowing the toilet bowl. A simultaneous second failure: the flapper in the tank got stuck and didn't drop when the tank emptied, so the water kept on merrily spurting into the tank and on down into the already overflowing bowl. L, not knowing quite what she had done, but understanding it was not going to make anyone very happy with her, she hid in our bedroom without telling anyone. About a half hour later Stacy walked into guest bathroom to find water pouring across the floor, coming from under the wall shared with the master bathroom. The master bath, of course, was submerged, along with most of the master bedroom carpet and a decent amount of the hall several feet away.
Twenty minutes later I get another call saying she had tried to suction up the water with my wet/dry shop vac, but not knowing how to use it, didn't put the water filter in and likely ruined the motor. She reminded me that she had class tonight and that she needed to leave by 6:30.
The next few phone calls were all work people giving me must-do assignments that had to be done by COB ("close of business" for you laymen). The next chance I had to raise my head it was 6:00. I was home by 6:45. The house was damp, but there was a chill in the air I couldn't attribute to the water damage. Stacy left for her class saying that L had dumped the mac & cheese she was planning on having for dinner into a pot of water, ruining it, and that I would have to figure out what to do for dinner myself. The kids hadn't napped, so they needed to be in bed by 7:30.
I took the kids to Costco and we all had hotdogs. We got home at 8:30.
Unfortunately Stacy's car was already there when we got home. Her class had been cancelled, but our email program was on the fritz, so she never got the memo. I was pretty sure the temperature had dropped another few degrees while we were gone.
It's a good thing N thought to pick up these at Costco.
A couple hours later I get another call., this time in tears. Unobserved, L had put an entire roll of toilet paper in the master bathroom toilet and flushed, overflowing the toilet bowl. A simultaneous second failure: the flapper in the tank got stuck and didn't drop when the tank emptied, so the water kept on merrily spurting into the tank and on down into the already overflowing bowl. L, not knowing quite what she had done, but understanding it was not going to make anyone very happy with her, she hid in our bedroom without telling anyone. About a half hour later Stacy walked into guest bathroom to find water pouring across the floor, coming from under the wall shared with the master bathroom. The master bath, of course, was submerged, along with most of the master bedroom carpet and a decent amount of the hall several feet away.
Twenty minutes later I get another call saying she had tried to suction up the water with my wet/dry shop vac, but not knowing how to use it, didn't put the water filter in and likely ruined the motor. She reminded me that she had class tonight and that she needed to leave by 6:30.
The next few phone calls were all work people giving me must-do assignments that had to be done by COB ("close of business" for you laymen). The next chance I had to raise my head it was 6:00. I was home by 6:45. The house was damp, but there was a chill in the air I couldn't attribute to the water damage. Stacy left for her class saying that L had dumped the mac & cheese she was planning on having for dinner into a pot of water, ruining it, and that I would have to figure out what to do for dinner myself. The kids hadn't napped, so they needed to be in bed by 7:30.
I took the kids to Costco and we all had hotdogs. We got home at 8:30.
Unfortunately Stacy's car was already there when we got home. Her class had been cancelled, but our email program was on the fritz, so she never got the memo. I was pretty sure the temperature had dropped another few degrees while we were gone.
It's a good thing N thought to pick up these at Costco.
3 comments:
Oh my!!!!! (((((((Stacy))))))..could one day possibley get any worse?? I remember those days well,and they ALWAYS happen when "Daddy" isn't around.I will be looking for a large container with "airholes" to be arriving soon...grins...wish I lived closer so I could have helped if only to have taken the kids for a bit. You are the greatest "Mom"! Thanks for not strangling my Grandbabies!Couldn't blame you if you had,,,lol
Love,Mimi
Awwwww! big hugs for Stacy from a Nana who is re-living those days all over again! Since I am now at the "Nana" stage I can tell you that one day you really will look back at these days with a bit of humor and maybe even a little sadness.....it only takes 20 or so years to get to that point! Trace Adkins has a song..."You're Gonna Miss This....." Honestly, I was just telling Mandy the other day that I can remember calling Al in tears on more than one occasion because my little darlings were about to drive me crazy. If there is a mom out there who says she hasn't felt that way, she's a just a big old liar!(Grin) Good job with those flowers N!
Love, Kim
Does it make me a bad person that I have taken some vague delight in the events of your day? Misery and company and all that stuff.
-JvB
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