Baby Mary sat in her stroller in the backyard
Watching her siblings play.
Watching the neighbour kids play, too.
I kept peeking out from the kitchen to make sure she was all right,
Smiling at how happy she was just to sit and watch.
The sun was shining and birds were singing.
Then, as if in an instant,
I’m juggling my now-fussy baby and trying to finish dinner on the stove.
The kids are inside now,
Fighting and whining and everywhere.
Ed’s caught in a transit delay.
Everybody’s hungry and I can’t keep up with the laundry or the dishes or the gardening or the cleaning.
There are bills to pay and papers to fill out and calenders to keep up and school bags to empty and fill.
Groceries to buy and breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, omg, the never-ending snacks to make.
And work is slow this week, this month, and I can’t afford the babysitter, but how do I get more work without a sitter?
And breathe.
(Or cry in the bathroom. Just a little bit.)
And everybody sit and eat your damned dinner or you won’t get any chocolate.
And breathe.
It’s just between 5 and 7pm.
Again.
6 replies on “Witching Hour”
AMEN!!
I confess: one day, about 10 days ago, after a long and trying day, I went into the bathroom. And not only did I close the door, but I locked it! I felt so naughty… and free… and overwhelmed that this is what my “private time” has been reduced to. {{{hugs}}}
Could’ve written this myself!!! Those hours are exhausting!!
Whenever I lock myself in the bathroom, my kids bang on the door the whole time, so it isn’t much of a time out.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH ~~ How well I remember those days !! You are FINE – You are FINE – You are FINE — just keep telling yourself that…..love you madly,
tj
I can’t wait to have a bathroom door that I can lock. Right now we’ve got a bi-fold door that you just have to push on from the outside to open. I tried to put a lock on it once, but the kids broke it.
There’s no shame in bringing a cup of tea and a magazine in with you, and taking a minute to re-gather the remaining shreds of your sanity once in a while.
*hug*
(because everyone can use a virtual hug from a complete stranger once in a while.)
Ah yes, Motherhood! And when the kids look back twenty years from now, all they’ll remember about these days are how much fun they were having! I can hear my own Mom now, teling us kids (there were nine of us) to “just stop fighting with each other” … and truly in my recollection we were just having fun:) It is amazing how quickly it all changes up from sunny, bird chirping wonder to, as you so aptly put it, the witching hour. Hang in there ~ you’re doing God’s work & I love your posts.