My Weekend Getaway

It had been another rough day, and the end was not really in sight. Whether it was the shortage/lack of naps; the seemingly-constant crying; the running commentary on every aspect of life; the sense that life, in all its fullness, was just a bit much right now and the subsequent feelings of self-pity; or any other trite part of the equation, it was one of those days when I was ready to hand in my two-week notice....effective immediately.
Dinner was a simple affair: frozen pizza - now "well done" - with vegetable sticks on the side - an attempt at adding "health" to the meal. N was overtired but refusing to sleep as we let her cry it out in the bedroom. G had nothing new to say, but wanted to say it all again anyway. I was Done.
"Would you like some earmuffs?" Rod asked. He had spent the day away from all things children, so he had a few extra patience reserves.
"I kinda would," I answered - half joking, but mostly not, wondering what he was going to do about it.
He got up, went upstairs to where he had been working all day on our renovations, and came back ....with some earmuffs.
I put them on, very gratefully.
It wasn't quite magic, but almost. The crying instantly became much farther away. The yattering became ignorable. If I stared at the wall, I could almost pretend I wasn't there. The fact that the pizza was a dark shade of brown now became my ally, as did the very crunchy carrot sticks. I chewed as noisily as possible, enjoying every amplified munch in my little self-created world. And I was a better person for it.

Sometimes...you just gotta.