In Which I Admit Mhat My Children Are, Indeed, My Overlords

Yeah, it's kind of like this picture, only without the smiles.

It's been a week of getting less done that I'd hoped. First, our nanny was ill on Tuesday, so Kris and I tag-teamed the day. Scratch one half-day of vacation for me.

On Wednesday, the nanny didn't show up. Several panicky phone calls ensued in which we implored her to call us and let us know she was all right and not, you know, choking on her own phlegm or something even more nauseating. Another day of tag-teaming followed - that's two half-days down the drain.

The nanny called Wednesday night to remind us that she was in Wisconsin for a conference, and hadn't planned on working Wednesday or Thursday since it's kinda hard to babysit kids over a distance of three hundred miles. For once, I was not the forgetting party - Kristin knew this, but hadn't written it in her planner. Schadenfreude is a lovely thing when no one gets hurt. :-)

So, yesterday was another half day burned, and it was a total wash for our local ministry as I had an advisory committee meeting in Des Moines that consumed the afternoon. Kristin had a Youth Ministry Retreat that started last night at 7, so it was a night home with the girls for me, which is fun but not particularly productive, especially when you're wiped out from being on the go 24-7 with work and family.

This morning, the nanny called. At least, I think it was the nanny - either it was her or someone with a pack-a-day cigarette habit calling on her behalf to tell me she was still sick. That hissing sound you hear is the rest of the air left in my week leaking away. It's another missed day of work.

Never has so little been produced by so few who are so tired. How is it two girls who aren't even three feet tall can be so completely exhausting?

I'd love to include some pithy theological/vocational reflection, but I'm just too damn tired. Besides, I need to get to the gym and dump these little angels on someone else for a couple of hours.

This, of course, is not news to those of you who are full-time caregivers for your children. In fact, you should probably stop the snickering about now. God, at least, has been generous in giving us two girls who are usually pretty agreeable; right now, Alanna is asleep in the swing and Ainsley's watching Baby Crack ... er, Baby Einstein. That having been said, I'm sure I'll be feeling a tug on the ring through my nose any minute now - there's bound to be a diaper that requires changing before I can fini--

What's that awful smell? :-)