1 Mother 2 Another

I feel as if I’ve been living in a
bubble forever now; the girls and I have been sick for so much of
the winter that our regular routine of somewhat frequent playdates
has been completely shot. I’ve been avoiding people
assiduously, trying to stop the germ spread, and now can’t
remember what it was like when we lived in New York and would head
out to the park EVERY DAY for a playdate with Maddie’s pal
Naomi.


We seem to be coming out of the latest round of germs, for which
I’m supremely grateful – and I am SO ready to set up
playdates. My life for the noticeable past has been waking up,
getting the girls going, and hear Maddie say plaintively,
“Where are we going today? What are we going to do? I want to
do something fun. I want to play with friends.”


And since no one’s been one hundred percent healthy, we often
haven’t felt like walking to the park. Which leaves indoor
fun – the mall, library, or Chick-Fil-A – or the other
alternative, which requires no money and no schlepping tired kids:


Mommy comes up with a brilliant, stay-at-home, fun idea.

Now, I’m as creative as the next
mom, and have my share of fun ideas up my sleeve. I’ve got
the rainy day box, and a closet full of props to turn the house
into our own version of open gym or ballet class. I have tubs of
foam projects and crayons and stickers. But after weeks and weeks
of this, Mommy’s tired.


Every day I stress over breakfast, worrying about the inevitable
round of questions. My girls are great at entertaining themselves,
and will play unsupervised for long periods of time. But even the
most imaginative toddler will eventually tire of the same old
stuff, every day, with only the same old sister to play with.


We have done countless reenactments of the Sesame Street Live show
(which we only just went to on Saturday!). We dress up in ballerina
clothes and dance around at least twice a day, planning elaborate
ballets and scenes to act out. We read books. And more books. And
more books. We’ve had tea parties – again, almost every
day – and jumping contests on the trampoline. Cora and Maddie
both have an activity tub with paper and stickers and crayons and
coloring books, and those tubs come out nearly daily, the girls
sprawled on the floor as they happily create artistic chaos.
I’ve been an audience member, a ballerina, a sick patient,
the queen at a tea party, and things I don’t even want to
talk about, and Mommy’s thinking of early retirement.


It’s so bad I cast my eyes around the house, looking for
anything that might take up a chunk of time. I’ve thrown the
cat out and let them chase her for ten minutes. It’s true.


That was a wonderful ten minutes.


But both girls are turning a little savage; as I try to get
housework or office work done around them, they are no longer
entertained by the small things that used to hold their attention
when it was new and interesting, like playing in their kitchen. So
I now have ten minutes of computer time, knowing that when I come
out of the office the curtains will be on the floor and one of my
children will be attempting to make pants out of them.


In desperation, we cook together, but there’s only so many
batches of muffins we can make. So I look for errands that will
take up time and get us out of the house without spending money
frivolously. Which is how Maddie ended up sitting at the Jiffy Lube
with me for twenty minutes last week, “reading” all the
magazines about the Cowboys and wondering if the girls in all the
posters weren’t cold in their swimsuits.


Last night, I voluntarily went to the grocery store with a child,
reasoning it was more fun than staying home with her and seeing yet
another Zoe ballet. Yes, I chose a screaming toddler, trying to eat
everything in the grocery cart – “Want eat blueberries
NOW!” – over another rendition of Sunny Day.


As I’ve said, the clouds seem to be lifting and we’re
back on the market for playdates, and I’ve already been
feverishly dialing, trying to get in with friends and out of the
house. But of course, everyone’s booked up right now and I
have to book a few days out. So if I can just hang on a little
while longer, I’ll soon have some adult company and my kids
will have new entertainment to play with.


If, of course, we’re not sick again by then.