I was in the mother of all afternoon slumps today at 3:15. Okay, I exaggerate - perhaps it was just the aunt of all slumps. Regardless, I drove home with a budding headache that only worsened as I punched from station to station on the radio, searching for just the right thing although I didn't know what that really was. Smart NPR news from the world? No, blah and frankly, too smart for me at this time of day. Amusing anecdotes from local witty DJs? Not for long, too loud and jovial. Best slow dance song from 1984? Too depressing. Pussycat Dolls? No thanks, embarrassing and also depressing. Classic rock? CURSE YOU, JETHRO TULL! Grrrrr. Nothing was right, and resorting to my own hand-picked CDs seemed like admitting defeat; surely it was better to let the throbbing build in my brain.
Arriving at home, however, I was greeted by the sweetly comical sight of my children - backpacks still on - stalking a squirrel in our yard. Their seriousness was genuine; they didn't even look up when I pulled into the driveway. As I got out of the car, I heard them engrossed in whispered reconnaissance with each other. I could not direct that kind of sibling camaraderie if my life depended on it. Joyousness.
But still I was dragging a bit. The pounding in my head was reduced to more of a poking, but it was still an annoyance (as anyone who's suffered the MomMomMomMom finger-jabbing into the very marrow of her shoulder knows). Checked the mail, cut a few cubes of Gouda, snuck a Tootsie Roll for good measure, and turned on Ellen. Feeling better. Did the bad-but-feels-right thing by reading my favorite blogs while watching TV and snacking.
I am now ready to change out of my teacher clothes and into my comfortable housework-doing mom clothes. Ready to do a power sweep of the kitchen, living room, and laundry area. Any minute now. Maybe one more Tootsie Roll is in order.
