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There Are No Shortcuts

Both kids fell asleep in the car last night.

Fantastic, I thought,

I can skip straight to the peace and quiet.

DAILY SNACK

Both kids fell asleep in the car last night.

Fantastic, I thought,

I can skip straight to the peace and quiet.

Just as soon as I carry them both up to our second floor apartment

By myself.

Not wanting to leave either in the dark alleyway,

I deposited Colum just inside the door

Where he dozed on the bottom step.

Irene woke up on the way in

So I plopped her in her playpen while I went back down for Colum.

And she screamed

Bloody murder.

She screamed so loud and so hard

That even Colum who had stayed firmly asleep

On the back stairs and then while I undressed him

Finally woke up.

The cycle of waking each other up continued

For over an hour.

I won’t be trying that again.

By Rebecca Cuneo Keenan

Rebecca Cuneo Keenan is a writer who lives in Toronto with her husband and three children.