The strange thing about being a mother is how often I’m interrupted. Like something is happening and then something else is happening. Then suddenly I’ve lost a whole chunk of time. It’s difficult to get a good grasp on things when kids are around. Even when they are teenagers, now they are – thankfully – capable of wiping their own arse, and, unlikely to walk into a swimming pool by accident. But even so, even now, they have this ability to just suck time out of the day.
Not that I am complaining. Actually, I love it. I call these teens my favourite distractions. To use by way of example today, I am in a zoom meeting with the executive chef who is discussing his new menu, while B is in the background, stood by the open oven door, waving at me, as if his frozen pizza were on fire. He would have worked out why the oven was beeping, eventually, but where’s the fun in that? So of course, we all got involved.
Then there is A, who has found an abandoned shack, that she and her friend have taken upon themselves as a project, whilst observing social distancing. The building has lost its doors, and has been the landing place for litter that’s been migrating across the land over many years. They are sorting through misshapen plastic bottles, faded candy wrappers, rotting leaves with their bare hands. I can’t help but want to join in. I bring the girls a bucket of warm water, disinfectant and other cleaning supplies, which are received with the same enthusiasm one gets when gifting at Christmas time. Within an afternoon, the shack is transformed into a respectable summer cottage for the holiday ahead. The lizards and spiders have moved out. A stray cat moves onto the freshly scrubbed porch, much to the girls’ delight.
“Wash your hands after you touch him” warns A, “ Cats can carry coronavirus.”
After A returns home to avoid becoming a mosquito’s banquet out in the bush, she sits beside me on our pool deck, and we lose an hour as she recounts every personality trait that presents itself at school. As these girls journey through adolescence together, it’s fascinating to hear about the boyfriend choices, the makeup preferences and the fake-tan fails. As we chit chat about school life, we observe how the colours are changing before our eyes, as the sun lowers into the sea. Another day is down, and I haven’t even started dinner yet. Kids are time wasters, I tell you. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“The strange thing about being a mother is how often I’m interrupted.” Bahahaha, much like being a boss! 😉 x
Yes Lydia that’s so true! And the more I watch the Government press briefings the more I realize that the Panel must also be thinking the same thing!