Confined space
Our air conditioning was broken for a week: it was the first week of July in St. Louis. Thankfully we had a couple window units that could help us limp along until we secured a company to install a new one. We closed off many of the larger rooms, completely abandoned the third floor, and lived out of 4 rooms on our main level. Though we tried other configurations, the kids settled on sleeping in our room every night. Only once did I wake in the middle of the night and step on a child. However, a child woke me up every. single. night. The lack of functioning A/C, the extra heat floating around the house, and the confined space put everyone in a crabby mood.
One of these days, I was hoping to coax our oldest child out of a bad funk by purchasing the supplies needed to make slime (his idea). As soon as Sean had his focus and felt more excited about his day, then the middle child threw a fit about something. We had just arrived home from purchasing the slime supplies, and Audrey was so angry (with me? with her siblings? does it even matter?) that she refused to get out of the car. I began to tell her that it was too hot outside to sit in the car by herself, but then realized that it was mighty hot inside, too. So I left her to stew in the humidity with the car doors open. She was grunting and averting eye contact when I abandoned my mom rant. I performed my best imitation of a pack mule and carried grocery bags, purse, water bottles into the house. I didn't know when she would tire of sitting there, but was confident the heat would eventually get to her. Maybe she would get so much heat from outside that the inside would feel like a relief. Maybe that relief would lead to less crabby, more loving child once inside?
I slogged my way through our main level, reaching for window units to pump in some cool air. Then it was time for the third child (fear of missing out on turbulent emotions, and beginning to whine), to ask if she could make a video. Sure, I said, go ahead! If she wasn't 5 years old, she might have gone for it on her own, but she wanted me in the video with her. I set slime supplies and grocery bags down, let the dog out, and turned on my phone camera for a routine selfie video with Frankie. Instead of being a quick, routine selfie, it turned into a microcosm of our day:
The video is less than a minute, but the scars of living in a confined space for over a week? Those will last a lifetime.
One of these days, I was hoping to coax our oldest child out of a bad funk by purchasing the supplies needed to make slime (his idea). As soon as Sean had his focus and felt more excited about his day, then the middle child threw a fit about something. We had just arrived home from purchasing the slime supplies, and Audrey was so angry (with me? with her siblings? does it even matter?) that she refused to get out of the car. I began to tell her that it was too hot outside to sit in the car by herself, but then realized that it was mighty hot inside, too. So I left her to stew in the humidity with the car doors open. She was grunting and averting eye contact when I abandoned my mom rant. I performed my best imitation of a pack mule and carried grocery bags, purse, water bottles into the house. I didn't know when she would tire of sitting there, but was confident the heat would eventually get to her. Maybe she would get so much heat from outside that the inside would feel like a relief. Maybe that relief would lead to less crabby, more loving child once inside?
I slogged my way through our main level, reaching for window units to pump in some cool air. Then it was time for the third child (fear of missing out on turbulent emotions, and beginning to whine), to ask if she could make a video. Sure, I said, go ahead! If she wasn't 5 years old, she might have gone for it on her own, but she wanted me in the video with her. I set slime supplies and grocery bags down, let the dog out, and turned on my phone camera for a routine selfie video with Frankie. Instead of being a quick, routine selfie, it turned into a microcosm of our day:
The video is less than a minute, but the scars of living in a confined space for over a week? Those will last a lifetime.
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