Inadvertant poetry

The children are back in school!

 I wrote my 500 words (629) this morning, before I got sucked into the day’s wash cycle and it’s a big improvement on the after-hours writing. Got everyone out safely, made my cup of coffee, picked up the ringing phone to find Batman. We quickly exchanged this important info: She to me: Your Word Is Your Wand, me to her: order ‘Your Three Year Old’ on Amazon. We exclaimed our love and hung up. I then sat down at the computer and pounded out my tale. I even laughed out loud at something I was writing. That was fun. So, then I was free to eat lunch, run to the grocery store, hang out the wash, work on the taxes (I had to file for an extension), put a second load in, provide after school snacks and homework assistance, make dinner, hang out more laundry, do the football run, put the kids to bed, debrief my husband, write this, make this crazy drawing and take care of all the things that came up that I hadn’t predicted. A hive of industry!

 I know I said I wouldn’t work on weekends but I managed a cool 500 before we caught the train to the coast, so I’m feeling on top of it. I’ve banked some work. If I get depressed (inevitable), I can stay under the covers for an entire day and still have my word count.

 We had a great time at the beach. Nicoletta made homemade pasta and we hung it to dry on a broom handle. The children looked upon this with silent wonder. This reminded me so much of this information that’s been rattling around in my head for years. Back in the old days in New York, the fish mongers would jack up the price on Fridays because they knew that all the Catholics would be eating fish on that day. So the savvy, thrifty women would buy their fish live, on a Wednesday, and keep it in the bathtub. I like thinking about all the young children, living with fish swimming around it their tubs. Some of them must have loved it, perching themselves by the side, watching, watching. Some of them must have been scared to go in the bathroom, some of them probably pondered the fish’s fate and thought long deep thoughts about killing and eating other living things. When us grown ups ‘make do’ we are inadvertently making a little crack in the daily routine and children’s imaginations get triggered. Not only do we save money but we increase the chances that our kids might grow up to be poets (who will of course need to rely on all the money-saving tricks they’ve learned from us)!

 Got to go to sleep now since I’ve got to wake up early…I failed this morning so I’m going to try again.

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