Trading my fake job for my real job: Day 7

Day 7 of my life of a single parent has been a breeze just like the previous six. Besides journaling each day, I've stopped counting the days until my queen arrives. Not sure if she's ever going to arrive. Besides one vague email, we haven't heard from her. Both her parents and mine are starting to ask questions that I can't answer. All I now is that she's in a jungle somewhere in South America. Wifi and cell coverage are probably non-existent. Indoor plumbing is a still a new idea in some parts of the world, so I'm sure mobile phones and internet connections are still 50 years away.

Today being Sunday, I am a bit worried that cabin fever may set in. I offered to go for a drive. They declined. I asked them to go outside. They refused. I gave up and let them watch their movies on Netflix. Good ole TV never lets me down as the babysitter. No fighting, quarreling or bickering. And daddy gets to do some of his own work.

At 3:30, my world broke apart. The boy goes skating every Sunday at 4 pm. Getting him ready is easy because he wants to go. It's the other monster that tore apart the illusion of my world. She didn't want to go. She doesn't want to get dressed. She has decided that she's now hungry. 

"When is mom coming home?"

"In another week."

"I'm hungry."

"I understand but when I asked you at lunchtime, you told me you weren't hungry."

"Well that was 3 hours ago and I'm hungry now, why don't you want to feed me? I'm starving here and you want me to die or something."

"How about a sandwich to carry you over to supper?"

"When is mom coming home? I miss her and I want mom to make me a sandwich. You just want to starve me out. If she doesn't come home soon, I might be dead from starvation".

"Ok, let's say I make you a sandwich."

"Alllllriiiiight. I want an egg sandwich."

"We don't have enough time for an egg sandwich. How about tuna?"

"I'm gonna be so skinny when mom comes home. What are we going to do with my clothes? None of them are going to fit with all this starvation."

"Tuna it is, get your boots on."

"Aaaaggghhh, I can't win with you. You always have to win. I don't want to go to the rink to watch my brother skate."

"Too bad, you knew all day we were going to do this. Can you please just cooperate for the rest of the day? I know you miss your mom. I do too. But all we got right now is each other. Let's work together to make it as good as possible."

"Ok"

Luckily for her, when we got to the rink, skating had been cancelled. Getting home earlier allowed me the time I needed to keep my little girl from starving. 

The rest of the night went well. I was playing video games with the boy, when we heard the girl scream out "Mommy's trying to call us". We both traded our controllers for the iPad. It's one thing to hear a voice. It's quite different to see a face. We missed her call, but we quickly redialed her Skype address. And there she was. She's alive. The video was crappy but the kids got to see their mom for about 15 minutes.  Both kids were trying to dominate the screen. They got so close, Momma Hen could see up the kids nostrils. She confirmed that technology is hard to come by. She'd try to communicate again but told us not to worry.

The quick conversation with their mother put the kids in excellent spirits. They went to bed without any commotion. Despite a mid night nightmare, which put one of the kids in my lonely bed, the night was uneventful.

Thank god for education factories. Tomorrow, my little workers are back at the shop working away while I get back to my routine.