Now What's that Sound?. . .

. . .I think it is the sound of my patience growing.

I did not decide to be negative or positive today. I decided only to take the day as it is, and today it is like this:

I wear my noise reducing earmuffs. Sally screams her lungs out in the bedroom as my husband is trying to put her down for her nap. I have already tried it. Jonah has been waiting for three hours for our mother-son Bible study. "I just have to lay Sally down first" has been my answer for these long hours. He has more things piling up on his mommy-do list. Some small Legos are firmly stuck together. "Mommy, can you help?"

"Yes, as soon as Sally is asleep."

"Can you teach me how to make a real painting with watercolors?"

"Yes, as soon as your sister falls asleep."

"Mommy, can I have another cup of cocoa? You've said I can have two cups per day when I'm sick."

"Yes, you can have a cup of cocoa, as soon as Sally is asleep." T comes home from the art supply store. I had called him thirty minutes earlier and asked if he can check if they have black fabric markers. "Yes, honey," he replied and hung up. I was excited to look in his bag when he got back home. No fabric markers. Did they not have them? "I forgot to ask as soon as I hung up the phone."

Jonah is now getting upset over the delayed cocoa. A four-year-old can only wait for so long. It is now the fourth hour that I am putting him off. Sally gets quieter in the bedroom. Jonah picks up his guitar, strums, and Sally gets a second wind, screaming. The thousand previous times I had told Jonah that musical instruments are off-limits while someone is taking a nap, or attempting to, were clearly not enough. He makes an irritating whiney noise when I once more explain the rules and put the guitar away. He drinks his cocoa and comes to sit on my lap as I type and nods off. I am sick, too, and all this would be easier to handle if I didn't have muscle aches, a dizzy head, and a terrible cough that makes me throw up and nearly pass out.

The day is almost gone and I have reached none of my goals. I guess that I can forget about that much needed shower and that second cup of coffee. I am afraid to make a move in any direction, since it is finally quiet. If I boil water, turn a page, or flush the toilet, someone will start screaming again.