Why my work is undone

I was tidying up the kitchen this morning after having put Helen down for a nap, when along came Owen, asking me for something which I coudn't figure out. "Show me what you want, buddy, Mama can't understand you." He points at the freezer,"Hoo-hee!" I should have known. "We're all out of cookies, sweetheart. I need to make some more. You go watch Elmo and then Mommy will bring you a cookie."

So even though I needed to get my typing done, I found myself baking a quick batch of cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies, because Mr. Weber ate all the chocolate chips (Mrs. Weber helped a little too.) Along came Owen, wanting to lick the beater. And because young Mr. Weber recently discovered that where one beater is, there also is another, I immediately plunged the other one into my soapy dishwater. But then I caved and gave him a glob of dough. His daddy taught him. And then I "fixed" his Tike bike, his "motorcycle" which is his main method of transportation from room to room, where the handle broke off this morning. Now he is learning to steer with his left hand. Too many wheelies, I guess.

I was halfway through baking when along came daddy and grandpa in grandpa's truck, on their way to the grain elevator to pick up a check. They had come to grab the trash bin because today is garbage pick up. So I rushed around the house corralling the stinky diaper trash and the kitchen trash that was brimming over with crushed cardboard boxes. Of course, in the process, I discovered that Helen was awake and playing happily in her crib. And mommy can't resist taking her to grandpa, whom she loves so much.

The guys left, and here we were, pushing lunch time, but not quite. I had some laundry to hang, so the kids and I went outside. Our busy mama cat just had another batch of kittens. Owen is obsessed with throwing them into the back of his car and giving them rides. The kitties bail out, and then he almost runs over them. Helen is obsessed with the cat's food bowl. I extracted a handful of cat-chow Xs from her mouth and flung them, only to have flung them overly enthusiastically, and they ended up sticking to a clean t-shirt that was drying on the line. Undaunted Helen then filled her mouth with dirty stones collected from the porch's edge.

"Owen, let's make spaghetti." He was into that. I started some water to boil, and he fished around in the utensil drawer and came over to me with the spaghetti server. He helped me season the sauce, since I always buy plain canned tomato sauce and put my patented signature on it. Ha. I cook with a lot of garlic and herbs. Poor Helen has had more than one occasion of garlic breath, which she exudes with lots of drooly exuberance. Which causes the one holding her to fuss over the bad smell, which makes her laugh--open mouthed--and exude all the more. The spaghetti was a hit with the kids. I glanced at the clock and noted it wasn't too much longer until naptime. (Silent cheer.)

I sat down in the living room to fold laundry while Owen watched this episode of Reading Rainbow. Along came Helen. She is the destroyer of folded laundry piles. Stacks of washcloths see her and quiver. She found one of my socks and chewed happily on it, until I couldn't resist her and stuck the pair of socks on her arms. She pulled them off with her teeth, giggling all the while. Good ol' Levar Burton on Reading Rainbow had an interesting program that both Mommy and Owen enjoyed. It was about African musical instruments. After the show was over, Mommy made some instruments for Owen to play. The rubberbands on a Velveeta box was the favorite, until the young maestro broke a band. Helen was fascinated by the shaker I made with an empty spice canister and pearl barley. The barley made a better sound than the brown rice. She agreed. She carried it around until her nap time.

Owen got put down next. I told him the story of a little boy named Owen who only wanted to eat spaghetti, and then told him to go to sleep.

Unplanned interruptions. It's why it takes me several days to vacuum the floor. Before we had kids, I used to clean my entire house, do all the laundry and bake bread on Saturdays. plus maybe entertain in the evening. Life is so different now, but the kids are growing up quickly. I can't help but play with them as much as possible!