1. False Alarm
2. False Hope
3. False Words
The Man needed to get up at 6am to leave on a Business Trip. Son 1 aged 5y 2m was in the Big Bed with us. I heard The Man get up. I got up too, thinking 0530 would give me chance to get everything ready in good time. I padded downstairs to put the kettle on. And looked at the clock. 0245. I went back up. The Man had just headed down for the Double Bed because Son 1 was kicking him in the back and he wanted to sleep. At 0530 proper we got up again. The Man went off. I made lunches, cleaned, cleared up, got the boys’ breakfast out, made coffee, ate breakfast. Not a sound from above. I put the washing machine on and had a shower. Nothing. I went into our bathroom, dried my hair and used my electric toothbrush. I put Milkshake telly on. Son 1 remained, still, in the Big Bed. Finally I took him up a tray with a bowl of Frosties, some strawberries and a cup of milk on it. He very slowly stirred. “Why don’t you ever do this on a Saturday or a Sunday?” I asked. He laughed at me.
The atmosphere at The Office was grim as we heard from the Colleague whose daughter was taken so desperately ill. It’s now even worse than on Saturday. We can think and speak of little else. I managed to get out to get some presents for Wonder Nanny. Photo frames, candles and chocolates. I picked Son 1 up late, so we were way past Wonder Nanny’s leaving time when we got back. Son 2 aged 2y 3m waved from the window as I parked the car. I had a hunt for a photo of the boys to put in one of her new picture frames. Couldn’t find the school photo pack. But I did manage to find the birthday cards.
After Wonder Nanny had left, Son 1 got out his Hama beads. Son 2 tried to join in, but again got frustrated and hurled beads on the floor. I went upstairs with my paper - a sure way of getting them both to come buzzing near me. The Man is the same. “You do too much,” he says, in a critical tone. “You can’t go on like this. You have to rest.” Then if he ever catches me sitting down and reading a paper he comes up with a dozen things I ought to be doing instead. The boys were a delight. I read to them, each had a shower and a bath, each had their teeth done and then I put them to bed. Son 2 took ages to settle. “I want my DayD,” he cried. When I at last got downstairs I found someone had picked up all the Hama beads Son 2 spilled on the floor and put them back in their tub. Son 1, being an angel. He’s going to be so cross when he realises I’ve been doing this rather than ironing his picture.
Tags: birthday, business trip, co-sleeping, Hama beads, late waking, lie-in, Monday morning, night-waking, paralysis, The Office
