On Tuesday, the fish died. She’d been around for a while, and then while attempting to go to the hardware store this weekend, my husband and kids got the idea to go to Petco and get new fish. Our old fish did not like the interlopers. Or they didn’t like her. Not sure. Either way, the old fish wound up dead. It all feels a bit murderous to me.
My doctor visit in the morning took 2 hours out of a busy day. Everyone was apologetic about it (and the good news is all is good) but … ugh.
Our long-time nanny gave notice last week that she’s moving on. I assumed this would happen at some point, but transitions aren’t easy. I interviewed several potential replacements on Tuesday. My take-away: conducting multiple job interviews with small children around (because they are interested in this matter too) is exhausting. As I was wrapping up the last interview at 8:15 p.m., my daughter — who’d skipped her nap — bit her brother. Oh dear.
My husband is traveling much of the week.
I was up from 3 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. on Monday night, which is rather unusual (for me).
So, by 9 p.m. on Tuesday when the kids were in bed, I felt like I wanted this sundae. I took the broken waffle bowl (because I knew no kid would want it) and added chocolate topping and peanut butter. Yum.
Life is a mosaic, and there were plenty of positive moments from the day too. If I look at the whole week, there are some excellent things. As one example, I found out on Wednesday that this past six months’ earning statement (of book royalties) was a lot larger than the last one. I will be hiring someone wonderful. So back to more positive blog posts after this!
But… I did feel this sundae was necessary.
Good for you, Laura! Eat those sundaes! And enjoy every bite!
My sympathies! I had a bad day yesterday, too. After a very unpleasant conversation, it became clear to me a friend and I have unbreachably different values and the friendship is unsustainable. My decision, but I still feed sad about it. And I’m working on a magazine assignment about marriage that I thought I would enjoy, but is very hard going and nothing is clicking. My “sundae” was sugar, then salt, then sugar again, all day long. I hope a better day for both of us today!
@Louisa- yuck, that doesn’t sound like a good day. Here’s hoping today is better!
Yup, or if you are out of ice cream, that 2nd glass of wine will do…
Woof. Sundae well deserved! Good luck with the interviewing. Up until spring, we had someone coming to the house to watch the kids while I worked, but we ended up putting the youngest in a lovely little daycare (the other two are in preschool/going into 1st grade). I felt weird about it at first, but she’s having way more fun than she did at home. I find I work much better in a quiet environment (we have a small house, so I heard everything), but I definitely miss lunch breaks with my kids.
Hi Laura
Don’t know how many British followers you have but I really enjoy your articles and I look forward to seeing them in my in box . This one really made me smile !!!
Why I never liked fish for pets as a child: seemed like they mostly died.
@Gwen – we’ve had some reasonably long-lived ones. That’s why this death was a bit difficult. All was going well for many moons before the wanton introduction of new fish…
Gretchen Rubin would probably frown on this but I totally support 🙂
We had sushi take-out on Monday for a similar reason. It’s been a week full of high highs and low lows.
It’s another pre-vacation week for us, and they seem to be maddening…
“The world’s greatest babysitter burns out after two and a half years.” — Nora Ephron, “What I Wish I’d Known”
This quote was oddly comforting to me when our former sitter moved on from our family. We’re still in touch. She’s a treasured Auntie figure to my kids. It’s still a loss though, and you’re quite right that transitions are hard.
@hush – yes, no job is going to be eternal for lots of reasons. I’ve moved on from jobs, and so will everyone else. My kids have been surprisingly mature about it.
I do an ice cream ritual weekly. Since I take a day off during the week, my daughter and I go for ice cream after taking lunch to my wife on most Wednesdays. Maybe it’s the brain freeze, but it really does clear my head for the second half of the week.
Oh, bummer about your nanny. That’s pretty rough. I dread finding new sitters even though I need them. In fact, I’ve been putting it off while my parents are in town, but given they are leaving in a couple of months I should probably get back to my search.
Good luck!