Ahhh! Motherhood!

By: Sharon K. Shubert

(This story came about from a writing exercise in a former online newsgroup I owned named "Creative Women of the Web", for writers and artists. The exercise was to write a short story about your life when you were in your twenties.)

When I think back to my twenties, it's all a blur! A blur of raising kids, working at a chaotic job, never-ending housework and laundry, running errands, little league games, homework, stress, stress and more stress.....Calgon take me away days!

I can vividly recall finally sitting down at night, so tired I didn't think I could stay awake another minute, when inevitably, one of the boys would say, "Oh yeah Mom, I forgot......I have to take 6 dozen Valentine cookies to school tomorrow", or something of that nature. My favorite came from my eldest one night when he was 7 years old.......here he came down the hall in his pajamas after I had already tucked him in for the night. I had just laid down on the couch. He stood there with his hair all tousled and sleepy eyes, at the end of the hall staring into the living room at me.

"Mom.....I forgot to give you this note about my puppet I have to have for school tomorrow," he said, not looking at me but staring at his hands held in front of him, fidgeting. A puppet?!! A puppet for school tomorrow?! I had to remain calm. I must remain calm...

"What kind of puppet?" I asked from my prone position on the couch.

"I dunno" came his almost inaudible reply. Then he produced the wadded up note from his hands. It gave the information that all children should bring some kind of hand puppet to school, any kind, blah, blah, blah....(the note was dated 2 weeks before). It was crumbled and torn and had some kind of greasy chocolatey looking stain on it, so it had obviously been several places before it reached my hands.

"Why am I just now getting this note that you have to take a puppet to school TOMORROW?" I asked, while I counted to ten to myself. One, two, three, four......

"I forgot" he simply said. Then he just stood there in his pajamas, looking at me, waiting for Mom to fix it and magically come up with his hand puppet by the next morning.

"Ok, go on back to bed" I said, then I got up and followed him back down the hall. Tucking him in again I kissed his 7-year-old head and started to leave the room.

"Mom, are you mad at me?" came a little voice behind me, almost in a whisper.

I went back over, bent down and hugged him and assured him I wasn't mad. I'd have him his puppet for tomorrow when he woke up. He closed his eyes with a smile on his face. I gently closed his bedroom door and went into a stressed-out-Mom-panic! A puppet?!! By morning?!! It was almost 10 o'clock at night and my mind was whirling.....what kind of puppet.....out of what? Oh brother! I started digging frantically in my art supplies and pulled out a package of moveable eyes. What did I buy those things for?

Hmmmmm.....let's see what else is here....found a good size piece of off-white denim material---that'll do. Here's some string, paints.....I left a mess on the floor while I scurried off to dig out the sewing machine.

It's 12:30 a.m. in the morning and I'm putting the finishing touches on the hand puppet. He's cute and funny with a long tail and wiggly eyes, a pointy nose with a black pom-pom on the tip.....It's a HAND PUPPET MOUSE! He's too cute to take to school! I want to keep him for myself! I sat there filled with satisfaction at what I had created and played with the mouse on my hand, dancing him around while the house was quiet.....except for the snoring down the hall.

Such was my life in my twenties....

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