The double-fisted siren call of two alarms going off at once yanked me straight up from the depths of dreamland,
And sent me scrambling across the bed to turn them off,
Lest they wake the baby.
Laying my head next to hers for just one moment longer,
I’m immediately navigating the twisted course of my subconscious narrative,
Anxious and confused and ever more panicked,
Until I’m bolt upright once again.
Fuck.
Kids are pulled up and out of bed and wrestled into clothing.
Cereal and fruit thrust upon them, scrambling for tupperware and sandwich fixings and water bottles and snacks for later.
Scrambling, scrambling, all the way to school and down the hall to his classroom.
I blink at the morning sun on my way home, still dead on my feet after four hours of sleep.
Need.
Coffee.
Today is a field trip day and Colum needed to be at school at 8:30am
Instead of his usual 12:30, afternoon kindergarten start time.
8:30am, the same time both Irene and Colum will start school come September.
Actually, the bus picks them up at ten to eight.
God help us all.