Day: December 18, 2004

I wear a watch. It isn’t a particularly nice watch, I’ve had it for years. I’ve replaced the band and the battery at least once. Just recently it became obvious that I’d have to do so again. In the spirit of thrift I decided that this could be a Christmas present to me from Gleek. So today I sent Howard and Gleek to the mall to get a new band and battery. The bill for this service came to $45. I had no idea that it would be so expensive. Had I gone to do this service myself I would have walked out of the store and gone to Walmart and bought myself a cheap $7 watch. Instead Howard was in a store with a three-year-old Buying a Present for Mommy. The battery and the band were already on the watch before he saw the bill. There really wasn’t any way for him to back out of the deal.

Now I’m just sick to my stomach. We just spent $45 on a watch that I don’t care that much about. That much money could have bought hours of fun for everyone in the form of a game. For $45 I could have bought a DDR rig for the xbox which I’d much rather have than a stupid watch.

Now I’m stuck. If I don’t wear the watch the money is a complete waste, but if I wear it I’ll be reiminded every day of how stupid I am for actually believing that repair would be cheaper than replacement. I just want to cry.

addendum: Things which seem awful after a night of too little sleep, seem much much better after a nap.

Last night Howard and I were both self-indulgent. Howard had rented the xbox game Fable which had to go back this morning, so he wanted to play as much as he could. I had a book (The Golden Key by Melanie Rawn et al) and was luxuriating in being able to disappear into the story without cries of “Mooo-ooom!” dragging me back. We both stayed up until 2 am. There is something really wonderfully fun about staying up way too late doing something you enjoy. For parents it is a guilty pleasure though, because you know you’ll pay for it big time the next day and so will the kids.

Patches was cheerfully awake at his usual hour (7:30 am). Gleek started hollering for me at 8am and that was the end of sleep. I dragged myself out of bed and into the kitchen where I found a kitchen full of dirty dishes and no counterspace anywhere. I shoved dishes aside, making teetering stacks in the sink, trying to create enough space to make french toast. Before anyone oohs or ahhs over the fact that I made french toast for kids on 6 hours of sleep, I should point out that making breakfast is just self defense. If I don’t fill up the noisy holes with food, they will continue to be noisy at me. Like fledgling birds, my children are capable of foraging for themselves, but they find it much simpler to flutter helplessly and holler until I put something in their mouths.

After breakfast my body switched into one of those high-energy not-enough-sleep-so-I’m-hyper modes. The kids’ work is mostly done. My work is mostly done. In theory I can enjoy a peaceful afternoon. But I suspect that if things get too peaceful, I’ll crash into a nap.