Lords of the Flies By Michael

Frances and I hanging out at first yard sale weeks back: a calm in the storm

Yesterday, Mother’s Day, only a week after our open house, and the buyers and their inspector completed the home inspection. We’ve not heard anything yet, but what a day.

Windy spent the previous night up with Eleanor, trying to control her fever. The poor girl was miserable and began complaining of difficulty breathing. In the morning, off to Children’s Hospital they went while Frances and I stayed back to clean up and get the place ready for the afternoon inspection.

Chest x-rays revealed pneumonia. This morning, Eleanor’s not 100%, but she slept well last night and is obviously responding to the antibiotics.

I wrote before that we’ve all been sick, in turn, for the entire past 6 weeks. I was under the weather for nearly the entire time—and what a time. It’s no wonder Eleanor crashed. Like Navy Seals in Hell Week training, this was our family’s Hell Month preparation for listing the house. During that time the girls mostly raised themselves. Windy and I would both be working late into the night with paint brushes or tools in hand, suddenly realize it is way past any sensible bed time, and track down the girls only to find they’d put them themselves to bed—teeth brushed and lights out.

Nobody’s been eating healthily. We’ve ordered countless pizzas and whipped up way too many boxes of macaroni and cheese. The pantry is relatively bare. I’ve long been pleased that we are a family that takes every dinner and weekend breakfast together at the dining room table. But that table has sat unused like a museum piece for the past month. Eating happened where and when it could. We've neglected our children, allowing them to fend for themselves so as not to interrupt our frantic bid to complete home improvements. The girls can now show us tricks for navigating Netflix site and who knows what they’ve been watching the past 30 days.

Neither of us deserves a day that celebrates our parenting, so it is just as well it turned out as it did. Here’s looking forward to Father’s Day, which I will gladly share with Windy.

--MR