A Morning In Someone Else’s House

Life has evolved, we move along and we follow the highs and the lows. Sadly, a pattern from my younger days is repeated as my daughter got separated from her husband, and now another set of kids gets used to living with one parent, and visiting the other.  Into this mix the grandparents, myself and Kathryn, jump in to help out. We stay over at Kate’s house while she works all night long at the hospital, and I have to get used to sleeping in someone else’s bed and to a morning routine that’s unfamiliar.

I go to bed and carefully make sure that there’s enough milk for coffee. It’s a golden rule at my house, so I am sure not to have to sip a pure black cup.  But when the phone rings at 5:30 am, I think it’s a robocall, and then I’m up, so for Goddsake get me the coffee.  But when I open the fridge for the milk, it’s gone–a victim of the 17-year-old midnight munch, he doesn’t care if there’s milk for the coffee.  So it’s black gag me coffee as I watch the two kids I’m here to watch do their own morning thing.

They both have iPads and they both rarely stop watching them. Nathan, who knows what’s on his, Sofie, she’s watching animal videos, cute cuddly puppies and kittens. Nay won’t show me what he’s watching, I hope it’s something his mother would approve of.  He appears to be much happier and jollier in the evening than he does at this early hour. We wait for the bus, glumly, neither of these kids want anything for breakfast, which seems odd to me. It’s because the older one drained all of the milk, Sofie explains.  Here’s Mom, with some milk.  The coffee will taste much better and soon it’s time for me to pack up and leave, another good deed done.