Skip to main content

Cell Curse

Thursday morning I drove to work with my oldest daughter, leaving the younger three at home.

11:02 - Arrive at work
11:10 - 11 year old boy call: "Mom, can I play with Parker?"
11:12 - 13 year old girl call: *Sob* "That's not fair! I'm stuck home babysitting! Who do you want to play with? "I don't know. Someone." Call "Someone" and call me back.
11: 25 - 11 year old: "I had to run out of the house because my S. was going to kill me."
"I was not going to kill you!" S is on the extension. "Mom, I came home to eat lunch." Great. Feed the 6 year old.
11:35 - I didn't answer.
11:36 - Ignore call
11:37 - What?! "Mom? Hi. I love you, Mom. Hey, Mom? J. ran out of the house because S. was going to kill him but then he came home and fed me. Bye, Mom."
11:42 - "Hi, Mom. How's work?"
11:46 - "Do you have anybody in your office?"
11:49 - "Mom? I'm going to Parker's house now."
11:55 - "I'm holding the cat and she loves me."
11:58 - "Can I make cookies?"
12:00 - "I couldn't find anybody to play with but I don't want to babysit.
12:06 - "Mom? S is sad but I'll make her happy again."
12:11 - "Where are the scissors?"
12:17 - "Have you seen my other shoe?"
12: 20 - "Hi, Mom. How's work?"
12:25 - Ignore call
12:32 - "Mom? Papa called and wants help taking stuff to the dump. Can I go? Will you get Jacob to come home so I can go?"
12:35 - 12:48 - Calling as many people in the neighborhood as I can to find my son.
12:49 - "Mom? Papa's here. Can I go play with my friends? I can cross the street by myself" No. "Yes! Just let me go play with my friends!" Give the telephone to your sister. (I can hear Papa in the background). "I can't find her. 'Bye, Mom"
1:02 - "Hi Mom, it's J." Good. You're home. You're babysitting. S is going with Papa to the dump. "What?! That's not fair!" Let me tell you what's not fair, young man. Life. Don't expect life to be fair. What's not fair is that I've been answering calls all morning that shouldn't have been made. What's not fair is that you have played every day with your friends while your sister has been babysitting. What's not fair is the dirty laundry and pee on the toilet...etc. etc."


1:06 - Email to husband:


After call #21 from home (I jest not), I turned off my damn cell phone.

Your turn.

Comments

  1. June Freaking CleaverAugust 4, 2011 at 2:14 PM

    If this isn't both a ringing endorsement to why I don't carry a cell phone in addition to advertising for birth control and Valium (in that order), I don't know what is.

    Hang in there. Turn on your phone, but use call forwarding to your husband (in case they are less eager to call dad).

    ReplyDelete
  2. PatriceAugust 4, 2011 at 2:36 PM

    Nobody ever calls my cell...LOL! visiting from Mama Kat's!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Patty AnnAugust 4, 2011 at 9:11 PM

    I feel the same way about mine. No one ever leaves me alone!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. DysFUNctional MomAugust 4, 2011 at 10:30 PM

    Just reading this makes me want to smash my cell phone to smithereens. I SO know that feeling of answering the phone with "WHAT?!?!?!"

    ReplyDelete
  5. ArnebyaAugust 5, 2011 at 6:34 AM

    OK, 11:55 made me burst out laughing at my desk. And like DysFUNctional Mom -- I can so hear that "whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat"!

    ReplyDelete
  6. CountessLaurieAugust 5, 2011 at 9:36 AM

    That is ... my future, I can tell. When does school start again?

    Hang in there !!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. KlinAugust 5, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    Well I have now had my PTSD triggered from the days when my kids were younger I worked during the summer. It's okay. I know some great therapists.

    ReplyDelete
  8. HeidiAugust 8, 2011 at 11:36 AM

    Think you'll miss it when they grow up and stop calling?

    ReplyDelete
  9. ParkersAugust 9, 2011 at 11:38 PM

    10:00- "leave a message after the tone"
    10:02- "Caleb, Caleb, where are you?"
    10:04- "leave a message after the tone"
    10:07- "Will you come get me? I want to play. My mom said you would"
    10:10 "leave a message after the tone. Was that the tone?
    10:12 (you get the idea)

    Machine is full. Yes, Caleb does want to play.

    ReplyDelete
  10. A Musing MotherAugust 10, 2011 at 9:42 AM

    The above comment written by my sister, quoting from her answering machine that my son filled up with 30, yes, THIRTY messages.

    You're welcome.

    ReplyDelete
  11. M-CatAugust 10, 2011 at 7:17 PM

    Best.post.ever!

    My favorite was "Mom - what's there to eat?"

    How would I KNOW? You are the one standing in front of the fridge and/or pantry - you tell me!

    And worse, I didn't know half the crap that went on at my house during the summers while I worked until I stumbled on some old videos. Let's just say, I am surprised that they all lived and that cops weren't a regular occurance. Sheesh - how do we survive??

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Braces!

13 year old got braces today! She also had a little helper on her.
Post a Comment
Read more

Christmas Gifts

Jill is the slice of home baked pie you long for. Her dad was a farmer. His dad was a farmer. On a hot summer day Jill would call me up to go floating down the canal or ride the slick rocks with the stream into a barely thawed pool of water. She's also the girl I called one day when I was bored and offered to drive two hours and try out this new thing called "Bungee Jumping." We did although I can't remember why . The first year after my college graduation I found myself particularly low on pride.  First of all, I was a college graduate working as a sales clerk.  Too late I discovered that a bachelors degree in sociology is equal to a high school diploma and, in some cases, a G.E.D. and got you hired at JC Penney trying to upsale with a colorful scarf.  On top of it, I'd been dumped.  It wasn't that he was the love of my life.  In fact, it was quite the opposite.  He started planning the wedding aloud and I freaked out, pointing out that we'd only bee...
17 comments
Read more

They Call Me Grace

I was nearly 8 years old when my baby sister was born. This was quite fortunate since I was well adept at reading. I was tired of my name. Nancy. So plain. The Sunday comics included a comic strip called Nancy. She hung out with her stupid little boyfriend named Russell, was very boring and cried all the time. Why would parents who love their child name her such a boring name? I assumed they had run out of originality by this point. I was, after all, their third child. There was Mike, then Suzy, after me they had Joey (short for Joanne) and finally Jene Marie. The "j" a soft French slur. It was fitting. We had a French surname. But clearly Jene Marie was their crowning glory. Do I hate for taking all the love from my parents and hogging it for herself? Of course not. She's my sister. She's my baby sister. But if I happen to feel the need to speak to her when she's at work, I always ask for her by using both names; Jene Marie (with the schwa). I don't want her...
22 comments
Read more