Typical Tuesday?

All my kids needed me on Tuesday.  I woke up at four thirty after a fairly good night’s rest.  I have no idea why I keep waking up then.  It was an hour early, so I went out to the den and lay on the sofa, listened to my audiobook, and dozed off until the alarm rang.  Xenia and Justin wanted more sleep, so I bribed them with a side trip to Starbucks on our way to school which got us all out of the house earlier than usual.  We all met up in the kitchen listening to three different volumes of Harry Potter, filled our water bottles, and headed out the door.  It reminded me of the days when my sister Ellen and I were teenagers riding around with Mom, all three of us singing different songs.  I thought simultaneously hearing three different Harry Potter books was hilarious, but Xenia found it annoying.  She complained about it most of the way to school until I lost it.

Calculus was fun because I taught them the power rule after making them solve derivatives the hard way using the limit definition.  It’s a rite of passage that all calculus students must pass, but the groans of the class when they saw how easy the earlier assignment could have been was oddly satisfying.  I drove home in a great mood.

Jonah and I had three hours to attempt most of his subjects before his dentist appointment.  I had to spend thirty minutes of it trying to navigate his online classes which he still isn’t fully signed up with.  Figuring out the passwords to each site takes up a huge chunk of my life even though I could swear that my Last Pass and the computer save them every time.  We lost more time making toasted English muffins with cream cheese, tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella all broiled to perfection.  I sprinkled mine with lemon pepper.  Then I put some chicken into the sous vide to cook for dinner.  Jonah and I went over his math lesson, and then while Jonah read the chapter and answered questions for chemistry, I sat nearby and checked Facebook.  The Embry Riddle Parent’s group was abuzz with speculation about Hurricane Helene.  It doesn’t look like the college is in the direct path but the experienced parents all recommended students stock up on snacks and bottled water.

I texted Basil, “Are you doing anything to prepare for the hurricane?  It’s not directly hitting Daytona, but you will probably get a lot of wind and rain.”

Ten minutes later he sent, “I might buy a poncho.”

I texted a slew of helpful suggestions, like water, snacks, and parking on high ground and got from him, “Will do.”

Before I knew it, it was time for Jonah’s dentist appointment. 

I ran to the bathroom and straightened my scarf.  When I looked in the mirror my eyes were a particularly lovely green brown, and my face had good color.  In the great room, I passed Mike who was bringing an Amazon package, and I said, “I look nice today.”

He looked me up and down and said, “Yes, you do.”

It was such an innocuous statement, but it totally made me blush and made my day.

My mind was full of Mike as I walked out the door.  Without thinking about it, Jonah and I took the minivan to the dentist.  It’s the car that Jonah always drives.  They estimated that the appointment would last an hour which would get me home in time for my Pilates class, so I settled into the waiting room with, The Burning Tree by my friend Helen Dent.  It’s a fantasy set in rural Georgia that addresses generational curses.  Such a good read that I didn’t freak out about the time until Sophia texted me, “Hey,” our word to see if the other is available to talk.  Doh!  It was time for her to leave to pick up Xenia and Justin from school which she does so I can go to my class!  She needed the minivan, and I wasn’t going to make it to Pilates.  I texted the teacher my apologies and instructed Sophia to drive over and meet me in the parking lot to exchange cars.  Then I navigated the maze behind the waiting room to find Jonah.  The dentist kept drilling away as Jonah gingerly reached into his pocket and handed me the car keys.

After the appointment, Jonah wanted to rest, so I was off of homeschooling duty for a minute.  I started the rice in the rice cooker and thought about running to the store for some salad, but knew Sophia was on her way home with the kids.  I took my book to the front porch just out of reach of the scattered raindrops and plopped down on the cushioned bench.  Everything in the book was almost wrapped up with a few pages to go when Sophia drove up and they all ran up to the house.

“Hey, Mom!”  Sophia called out.

“Hey, Sophia.  Want to run to the store for me?  I just need a head of red-leaf lettuce.”

“Sure.”  She turned back to the car.

Justin ran by, “Don’t forget to buy me new shoes today like you promised!”

I knew it had to be done, but I wished he had forgotten and could wait for one more day. I got over myself enough to say in a cheerful voice, “Of course, we’ll go after dinner.”

Xenia sat down on the bench next to me.

“How was your day?” I asked.

Xenia had a lot to say about how silly the girls she goes to school with are and the trials of not fitting in and not wanting to fit in and life in general.  It was wonderful to have that moment when she felt like sharing her life with me.  She talked for over half an hour before Sophia came back with the groceries, and it was time to get cooking.

We ate a lovely sit-down dinner with rice, chicken with butter-wine-shallot sauce, and salad.  Everyone cleaned up their own dishes which left little for me to do.  Justin wiped down the table while I put the serving dishes in the dishwasher and started it up.

We bought some tennis shoes at the first shoe store we came to.  That was easy.  Justin talked about how fast he’d be able to run and how high he’d be able to jump as we walked hand and hand back towards the car.  We passed a miniature golf course in the mall and decided to have more mother-son time.  Esther called when we walked up to the cashier. 

I talked to Esther through the first hole because she had an exciting idea.  She and John Ben will have all the classes for their master’s degrees finished this semester.  The spring semester will be dedicated to working on their theses which they can do from anywhere including New Mexico!  Mike and I had thrown around this idea ourselves when we were hoping that Esther and John Ben could move away from their hundred-year-old home in a community with dirty water…not the place I want my grandson raised.  We can buy a bed for the room in the garage and make a comfortable place for Jonah, opening a bedroom with a full bathroom for Esther, John Ben, and Misha.  I was a hundred percent supportive but toned down my happy dance and assured her that we would support them whatever they think is best.   Then I let her go to focus on Justin.

Justin prides himself on his skill in golf.  What he didn’t know was how great I am at mini golf.  I had many good days at Putt Putt Golf on Highway 99 in Vancouver, Washington back in the early nineties.  After three holes it was clear that the game would be a whole lot more fun for Justin without the scorecards.  From hole four on we cheered for each other to do our personal best, and if one of us needed to restart, we did it without impunity.  We had many hugs and high-fives, and it was the best one-on-one times Justin and I have had in far too long.

We headed home retelling our best shots and making plans to come back soon.  I had just pulled out of the parking spot when my phone rang.  Sophia sounded so bad she could hardly talk.

“Mom, where are you?  I need to go to the emergency room.  I can’t stop throwing up.”

This was the third episode in as many months.  She suspected kidney stones but hadn’t gone to the ER during the other attacks and didn’t have any way to confirm it.  She felt better by morning the previous times.  This was our chance to get some answers.

“I’m on my way home.  We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

The next call was from Mike asking for the ER I recommended.  I told him where I took Jonah after his concussion snowboarding last winter.  It’s not part of a big chain and was quiet.  I told him I’d meet him there and drove home where I packed a hospital bag.  It brought back memories of taking Mom to the hospital time and time again.  I’ve lost the bag Coryn bought me for that purpose, but my school backpack worked just as well.  I packed Helen’s book Burning Tree, water, and two sweaters…one for me and a wrap for Sophia.

At the hospital, they had taken Sophia back immediately and left Mike in the waiting room filling out paperwork.  I finished up that job and sent Mike home to take care of chasing the other kids to bed.  They led me back to Sophia’s room where I spent the next three or four hours changing her barf bag and comforting her as best I could.  No kidney stones.  No appendicitis.  No bowel blockage.  No answers.  Looking back, we wished that they had done an ultrasound on her ovaries, but no one thought of that.  Poor thing sometimes she dozed off and was disoriented when she woke up.  Sometimes she couldn’t stop throwing up to answer the doctor, and sometimes she was able to give a coherent history.  The nausea wasn’t gone but better controlled by eleven at night when Sophia asked to be sent home.  She continued to have a rough night but was better by morning.

When I went through the house checking on the kids before heading to bed, Xenia was wide awake.  I ended up sleeping in her bed after another couple of hours of talking to her and listening to Sophia in the bedroom up above.  I almost called in sick the next morning, but when my phone alarm woke me up at a quarter to six, I knew my body wouldn’t let me fall asleep again.

When all my children were little, I thought life would get easier as they all grew up.  I don’t need to go back to the years of changing diapers and chasing toddlers every day for my kids to need me.  Being a mother looks to be a lifetime full-time job, and I like it that way.  It’s good to have so many people to love and worry over and pray for.  Glory to God.

Mike’s mom will move in with us this weekend and the week after that, our goddaughter Ryanna will be visiting Sophia.  I’ll update you in a couple of weeks.

Updates: Basil stayed in his dorm and did homework during Helene but drove to Texas to visit friends during Milton. He’s headed back today.