Long story short, poor Boston was writhing in pain the whole night as he basically got chemical burns and I had been forced to peel off parts of his skin that would not relinquish the tape. The verdict was that his body reacted too quickly to the ointment and was perhaps more sensitive than other kids' skin. 3 missed days of school and a loooong, ouchie weekend are finally behind us, though his legs may scar.
The week was lucky, though, because I got to see my long-time friend, Daniel. We've known each other since I was 15. He enlisted in the army when I was 16 (thought it was the end of the world!) but has made it his career and will be a lifer. He had some business to do in Colorado so he stopped in. We stayed up late chatting and catching up on old times. He is so magnetic. He tells things as he sees them and has an infectious smile. He is hilarious and easy to love. My kids gravitated to him immediately (he says it's because he looks like Mickey Mouse). Anyway, I called to check on him during his long drive home and we got to talking about how we both would like to eventually write books. He said he thought I'd finish first. "Oh yeah, why?" I asked, having a feeling I knew what was coming. "Because you have more time on your hands." What the?! I remained calm and asked him how many hours he'd be working at his new job. 40 (as I had suspected. Hmmm.). "So what will you be doing after work?" He told me he'd probably be vegging on the couch from exhaustion.
"Well my job never ends, Daniel." And that night we all stayed up chatting? Yeah, you slept solid til 10 a.m. I slept 3 hours, you little stinker. Knowing (as any good man does) that he was digging himself a hole, he added a most deliciously dangerous comment. "Come on, Chelsea. I've seen your kids. They're angels. And I know a lot of women who do what you do AND work a full-time job."
The end. Feel free to comment because this post is already long.
3 comments:
whatever ping pong table defacer!
so you still friends? obviously he dosen't have kids yet. :)
First of all Chels, I’d like to thank you for those undeserving word of kindness you used to mention me. Secondly, your kids ARE angels; not only in looks because each one is more beautiful than the last, but in character as well. I mean the incredible sense of manners your children have is uncanny. When your daughter comes into the room to politely ask if she can get herself a glass of water; I mean, what kid does that!?
Charlotte, I love you and I miss you and I hope I get to see you sometime soon but I’m sorry for what I allegedly did to your ping pong table. I still can’t believe I could’ve done something like that but then again remembering how nervous I was that night, I should be happy that’s all I did.
Mr/s Wallace, Chelsea and I have had way more challenging discussions than this trivial chitchat and one thing I love about Chelsea is her dependable logic and extreme maturity at every age that I’ve known her and coming from a serious polemicist it’s not a compliment to be taken lightly. You are correct when assuming that I don’t have kids but a premature assumption nonetheless, for a have been raising children since I was a teenager and I’m not just talking about babysitting but actual child rearing.
Chels, I know raising a child is not all sugarcanes & gumdrops, that it takes a mental toll not having the ability to take a break, having to be on 24/7. You know me, I love children and I hope God blesses me with a dozen, but as for now I do have the luxury of handing them back to their respective parent when I’m quenched. I know, I get it, but it doesn’t negate the fact that I know what I’m talking about.
Now, about the fact that I’ll be working an est.40 hrs/week and Vegging afterwards; it’s going to be awhile before I get to that point. Until then my work will occupy more than twice that amount. The fact that “your job never ends” may be true but it is not a job that you have to be 100% focused on it 100% of the time. The proof is in the fact that, when you called to check on me during my long drive home, we had quite an intellectual conversation for about 4 hrs. A week before that, we talked on the phone for almost 3 hrs on my way to your house, so why wouldn’t you be able to express your creativity into a voice recorder the same way?
I also love how you make yourself out to be a martyr by frivolously mentioning how much we both slept in comparison and also misdirecting the truth at that. Fact is we both went to sleep at around 4ish, you slept for 3 hours and I slept for 6. I had a 9 hour drive ahead of me; you had a date with Beckett all day. Would you rather me have had the 3 hour sleep with what had in store for me. I’m sure your logic would automatically say “no”.
But that’s fine Chels because whether you were just taking care of only 1 child or taking care of 4 of your own plus 6 others while working full time on your PhD and still keeping up with the daily house chores, I would expect the same sense martyrdom. How do I know this? Because I know both of these girls I just described and they both think they have it worse than every other mother out there and like I said before, that is OK; we all want to be praised for our life’s difficulties, we all need to feel esteemed, Maslow has a whole theory on it. :0) And you know what? You guys deserve it, because any female can pop out a kid but not anybody can be a real parent and raise a child right, and that is exactly what you are doing. So kudos to you Chelsea but just remember that whatever you think you can’t do, someone already did it. I Love you! :*
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