…..And That Was Our Weekend

Rockstar had a raging eye infection when he woke up Saturday morning, necessitating a trip to the ped (nothing very contagious, just that he’d felt something in his eye the previous day, and the rubbing and touching his eyes repeatedly eventually introduced the bacteria) – it was down just as quickly as it flared up, with antibiotics. But to us that’s something because I can’t even remember the last time Rockstar was prescribed antibiotics – 3, 4 years ago maybe – I’m constantly on his back not to touch his face with his hands in general (just really cuts down the number of times he gets sick). Unfortunately Kings was working the entire weekend again, and wasn’t even contactable on the phone til near the end of the day (because he was a keynote speaker) so Rockstar and I navigated the crowded Central area with me praying we don’t bump into anyone I know.

No such luck. Murphy’s Law of Looking Langgar (rough translation: A Mess) is, the worse you look, the more likely you will meet someone you know. Furthermore there will be a very high likelihood that it’ll be when you are lugging two heavy kiddie scooters because you were a glutton for punishment after your son saw the ped and so decided not to waste a trip, then attempting to pick up a toddler scooter simply because It’s Almost Time For Her.

You will then feel colossally bad that your son is doing such a bang-up job of staying away from any other kids around and not touching things in the store until you have cleaned his hands with your trusty pocket-sized sanitizer just in case he touched his face and forgot, and there you are getting wheels for your other child. I did remind him he has blades and a skateboard but still, I couldn’t bring myself to not offer him a scooter too.

And so here we are a-scooting.

And so that is how you will be lugging two scooters in to the Mandarin Oriental hoping the taxi queue is shorter having given up on two other queues that were nearer, and that is when you will meet people who are appropriately dressed for the Mandarin Oriental, unlike yourself.

So anyway. Got home, was in foul mood, had bed stripped twice because helper mixed clean with dirty bedding the first time (like, what’s the point?), and next thing you know it’s That Day Which You Loathe Traipsing About Alone With The Kids On, Sunday.

They say God uses even your lousiest circumstances for His purpose (oh wait they really did, in the sermon last week) and well it appears He uses your little annoying ones too. I’m wondering how I’m going to swing bringing Her Highness and newly mostly recovered Rockstar whom I still want to disinfect and disinfect again, all by myself.

My thoughts would go something like this: Come on, Aileen. Give it up. There is just no way you manage to bundle those two and cab across town, sanitizing where you shall put the younger one the way you are wont to do on all public transport, sanitizing the older one just in case he has any infectious bodily fluids coming from his eyes or maybe nose (he didn’t, just that the words “bacterial infection in eyes” creep me out), check the older one in to children’s service and proceed to entertain the younger, who will most probably charge up and down the aisle in back, maniacally waving the handout about, AND still feel all receptive to a blessed time of worship and one-ness with God. 

(Catches a breath) That would be about when it turns out one of Rockstar’s good friends (and mum) wouldn’t mind coming to church with us and suddenly I have company for service, Rockstar gets to have one of his favorite playmates in children’s service, we even manage to bum a ride home. I don’t have to sanitize any taxis! How cool is that?? 

Them coming back from church – in That Which I Did Not Have To Sanitize

This even happened! Whoot!

The most awesome thing is next time Kings is away weekends, Rockstar and I have Church Buddies. I even have help with Miss Maniacally Waving Sermon Handout In Back. Kings can now be gone as much as he likes. Well, almost. (In fact, he wildly prefers the late 5pm service, except there is no children’s service then, so I’m even toying with the idea of occasionally going for early service while he sleeps in, and then swinging back with him in the evening.)

For real though, I’ve blogged about how I preferred to be anonymous attending alone in case I might be well, judged <ducks head because surely not that many are going to judge you right? Right?> Even now Kings may be Christian and newly baptized but he still has to work some weekends because that’s when some of the biggest opportunities in events are and his business is just picking up, and that’s still going to suck. And there you (well, I) will be all self conscious and trying to fit in and somewhere out there is going to be someone full of judgment. Like it’s not already a little hard to show up alone. Murphy’s Law of Meeting Other Christians is you are likely to meet the one out of a hundred, a thousand, who is like that. Because there really aren’t that many judgmental ones are there, so let’s just blame ole’ Murph.

And then we get home all buzzed and happy from a great time and find……….. the home has been tidied up. Now, you have to understand how absolutely essential our helper’s holidays are to her. We were quickly erm, trained not to mess with her days off – because we pay her double and everything, but she often simply cannot keep from making the most hare-brained mistakes. It was like you pay her double and she punctures the ball pool kind of thing, just not worth it (I have almost never been able to deduct any helpers’ salary for stuff they break, this one actually volunteered to pay and I took it up the once, but in general I always just think the helper makes so little already). So anyway she’s young, she has a boyfriend, she’s just got to be allowed out for a break or she can barely function.

So our helper wakes 5am on Sundays (only then haha regular days she used to have a real problem waking up before me) to do what we need her to do and then get to maximize her time out, especially as last week I already requested she work half day so I could go with Rockstar to church, and she notices Kings in work garb about to drop me and the kids before going to his function and asks if Kings is actually working (because I didn’t mention for her to stay). I think nothing of this until we get back after service around noon and discover she tidied up our whole home before leaving. Sigh. People ask me why we don’t change helpers asap for all the hare-brained mistakes and our unwillingness to leave her alone with Little Miss unless Her Highness is either napping or feeding and I would say I feared ending up with someone worse. This would be what I mean, we’ve never had a helper who volunteered to have her salary deducted, tried to resign (rather than get fired and paid off) and well, this. Oh, I’m pretty sure she’ll drive me nuts about something else soon, but at least lemme enjoy her gesture til then…

And so Kings came home and took over feeding Her Highness from me while I had a glass of Penfolds Shiraz. What I was thinking as he sat down opposite her to finish the feed was how she must be thinking Ah Fresh Meat For The Baby Lion. (Fine, dragon). But he valiantly sat through the gradually half-hearted theatrics to get out of eating.

Like so (note foot)…..