Stopping at Two Glasses
After getting in from work and eating dinner I asked the kids if they might like to wash upseeing as they had been home all day (it's half term), and I had been at work. They reluctantly agreed, and I started picking up plates from the dinner table to take into the kitchenand walked into a scene from a biblical epic. I don't know how my other half does it. When I walked in from work and began clearing up behind her, the kitchen was half-way decent. Between then and sitting down for dinner it looked like a tropical storm had passed through. I had been absent for a few minutessorting out stuff on the computers for the kidsthat must have been when the storm passed through the kitchen. I felt sorry for the kids, so did the washing and clearing up myself.
Halfway through the clean-up operation the kids arrived in the kitchen to help dry-up and put away. All except Miss 11 who seemed intent on doing whichever was the easiest job, even if that meant snatching plates from other people's hands. After shouting at her for perhaps the third time, and making a number of threats she finally walked to the draining board and picked up the tongs that I had just washed. From the corner of my eye I saw her grit her teeth and dig the tongs into her little sister's back. I turned to face her, and she hid the tongs behind her back.“I only grabbed her shirt”I shook my headI couldn't figure out what to say.“Go and sit in the lounge with your Mum”.
After that everything died down for a while. I say for a while, because ten minutes laterwhile the kids were messing around in the junk room with the computers, all hell broke loose. It turned out Miss 10 had got stuck on some free skateboard game, and Miss 11 had “fixed” it for her good and proper. The computer had crashed.“What did she press?”“Everything”I held the power button in, and left the room after the screen went black. So I use the computer for a week after re-installing Windows 10 without incident, and they use it for ten minutes before they crash it to a standstill. Go figure. I should invite Microsoft to hire them as penetration testers. You can almost imagine the “Inside Out” scene of Miss 11 bursting into flame, and Miss 10 using her as a flame-thrower to torch the entire place.
I retrieved a bottle of Prosecco from the fridge after dinner, and drank two glasses one after another. I would love another glass, but know that I've had enough. Growing up sucks, doesn't it. Maybe it's not really “growing up” as much as “becoming responsible”. I know I have to get up for work in the morning, so know I can't drink any more.
Dammit.