Catwalk
It’s been an eventful day for 4 out of 5 residents of 929 LaFarge. Sammie had a couple of walks and a whole lot of nothing in between, but the rest of us had a handful. Okay, I don’t really know that Sam didn’t bay at passing neighbors for hours, but I have a hunch.
But the rest of us, I know we had a day. Erika and I went into Boulder to babysit Kara for a couple of hours while Erica (that would be senior, not junior) went to get a massage—it was our birthday present to her from last year. We were joined by Malee, one of Tribal Fiber’s key employees who is visiting the U.S. from Thailand, and after taking Kara to a puppet show about keeping the Boulder Creek clean (it was free, we were wandering past, it was a puppet show, which it turns out was a little slow), we strolled along the lovely mall enjoying the tulips and making halting conversation in two languages.
But that’s not really the point. The point is that it was Cold and Windy despite the bright sun, and I think that was our downfall.
Life was great, life was roses, Anna was a sleeping angel all around the mall, and after, when we picked Erica up and decided to go out to lunch. She was great when I took her to the men’s room to change her, idly hoping to impress the hostesses with my great dadness for some reason, she was great all during lunch as she just lay there on the booth seat next to me, she was great until we got to the car.
And then It began. Every parent knows what I’m talking about. We’re just discovering It. The tired that will not go away. The slight restlessness which expands into fussiness, into crying, contracts a little into fussiness and ALMOST asleep and then suddenly, viciously, BACK into crying and then SCREAMING and then WRENCHING OUT OF THE LUNGS AND SMEARING THEM ON ALL SURFACES WITHIN EARSHOT.
This cycle went on.
For hours. At Wild Oats, at Target (yes, there, I’ve admitted it. We were in Target. We seem to find ourselves in there more as time goes by, despite ourselves), at Erika’s work while I was away on errands, in the parking lot of King Soopers while Erika scrambled to fill our larder, and then a little at home too. And of course there were the car rides, but since she’s not all that happy with car rides, they sort of count too.
Everyone says this is normal. But that’s because they’re all part of the vast conspiracy called parents. See, now this wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t attempted to Do Something With Ourselves today. If we did Nothing Else Ever but take care of our dear sweet little one, this might never occur. But that’s not very likely, is it?
Anyway, that was the big day for three of us. Then there was Jasper. I’m not sure what he did all day, but he did it a block and a half away from home. I am fairly sure of this because that’s where I found him this evening when Sam and I went for a walk, and that’s just about exactly where he stopped following us on our morning walk. He wouldn’t admit being lost, but he was more yowly than usual.
Sam probably just slept a lot.