Meanwhile, my personal life is falling apart at the seams.I’m finally decorating for Christmas at our house the day after the kids get done with school on December 22.
Ugh.
“What happened to the big, light-up snowman?”Hannah asks.“That’s my favorite.”
“It was too big to move,” I admit.“I’m sorry.I donated it.”
Cue more whining.I swear, the kids seem to care about literally every piece of Thanksgiving and Christmas trash I could have sworn they didn’t even know existed, now that we’ve moved.Each time they mourn the loss of some other piece of junk, I feel a little guiltier.
“Why are we decorating so late?”Clara asks, hefting the star to the top of the tree.“It’ll only be out for three days.”
I thought about just doing the tree and nothing else.Decorating the mantel, the stairwell, the front porch, the family room, the kitchen, and all the windows feels like overkill.But I knew if I didn’t...cue the whining.
“I’m sorry,” I say.“The holidays have gotten away from me.A new business, sick employees, and animals to care for have been a lot.I know that’s not fair to you guys.”
“Mom, it’s fine,” Clara says.“We know you’re working really hard.”
“Too hard,” Amelia mutters.
“But she’s been riding with us,” Hannah says.“And she’s happy.”
I like that they can tell I’m happy.
“Some of us don’t ride,” Blaine mutters.“So what about us?”
“For you guys, I’ll make more time to do what you want.So what is it?”It turns out, it’s playing games.One game of Twister and two games of spades later, and we take a break to get the banister wrapped with the snowmen garland.“See?”
Blaine’s happy, and so is Paul.“Can we do that every week?”Blaine asks.“Mom game time?”
“Sure.”I laugh.“We’ll pick a day.Sunday afternoon, maybe, so it’s not missed during the school year.”
“Good idea,” Paul says.
When my phone bings, I realize I forgot about my lunch plans.“Shoot.”
“What?”Hannah frowns.“Is something wrong?”
I shake my head.“I haven’t seen Cillian in almost a week, and I was supposed to meet him for lunch, but his closing’s going long.”
“On a Saturday?”Clara tilts her head.“Who closes on a house on a Saturday?”
“It’s what they call a remote close,” I say.“The banks are closed, but his office gets all the forms signed, and then on Monday, it’ll all go through.Well, maybe not this Monday, thanks to Christmas, but the next business day.And his clients are often pretty wealthy and busy, so they do it on the day they can find time, and then he makes it work.”
“I know.”Clara rolls her eyes.“Inconvenience ourselves for the convenience of others.”
I nod.“That’s what makes it work and not stuff we do for fun.”
“And it’s why they pay you,” Hannah says.
My kids have heard this stuff for a while, I guess.At least they’re listening.
“You should meet him for a late lunch,” Amelia says.“That’s good for us—we can finish with the tree and stuff, and then you can still go.I like Cillian.”
“You do?”
Amelia nods.“He doesn’t talk to me like I’m a little kid.He talks to me like a person.”
“What about the rest of you?”
