January 30, 2010

A Series of Unfortunate Events

I didn’t see it coming, but the end result of yesterday was probably inevitable.

We were all out of sorts and feeling displaced yesterday because the previously flooded kitchen floor was finally being replaced. I did like the old floor better. It was darker, warmer and more comforting. Can a kitchen floor really be described like that? I guess it can because I just did. My only choices were white or tan so I made the obvious tan choice. Even though we are renting, I think I should have had more options. This especially because we will most likely be footing the bill unless God sends a miracle and our insurance can find a “your child threw a toy down the toilet and caused horrific damage” clause.

A positive way to look at our flooring experience would be that the two nice men who came to work on our kitchen entertained the boys all day long. At one point during the day, Luke went upstairs to draw and came down with a drawing of the lead guy. He graciously accepted the drawing and I saw it peeking out of his inner coat pocket as he left. I’m also pretty sure Luke asked them fifty million questions and they gave him fifty million answers. That’s one positive way to look at it, but I don’t want to, I’m feeling negative after yesterday’s unfortunate events.

Naptime came and went without Luke or Jack ever closing their eyes. I should have taken that as a clue because I can’t even remember when Jack hasn’t slept during the day. After about a half an hour of giggling, toys being thrown and blinds being crunched, I decided it was time to go in and lay down the law. When I came into the room, I saw the expected toy and book mess on the ground but then my eyes rose to Blue’s fish tank. There was an inch of fish food floating on top of the water and it was strewn all about the bookshelf and floor. Jack took the blame for it but Luke told me later he himself was the culprit. What a good little brother!

With naptime missed I knew I needed to be prepared for the evening. I was so proud of myself when I carried out the plan of cleaning up the house earlier than usual then doing the bedtime routine prematurely. The boys were jammied up and teeth-brushed by 7:30 (bedtime is at 8, which normally turns into 8:30 or 9). I added seven storybooks to our Bible reading in hopes that they would get calmed down and maybe even fall asleep before I finished reading. No such luck but there was no fight when the lights turned out.

I walked out of their room patting myself on the back and headed downstairs for some tea and unwind time. A little later I heard a plop on the floor and assumed Ping, our cat, jumped down from her normal perch on the washing machine. When I went upstairs an hour or so later to do the normal rearrange of sleepy boy body parts and tuck-in I stepped on some damp carpet as the Ping raced out of the room. That’s strange. I turned the light on and found Blue, our brand new beta laying on the carpet with cat sized chomp marks on his body. The tank had been pushed off the bookshelf and overturned. Somehow that genius cat also figured out how to unsnap the lid to the tank.

I called Tim at work and was forever grateful when he promised to be the one who would break the news that the boys' beloved Blue was gone. The stupid fish didn’t even last a full week!


R.I.P. Blue

You will be missed.
To your watery grave you go.
We will find solace in the knowledge
that you will be now keeping company
with Jack’s flushable playthings.

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