don’t push down

don’t push down
Originally uploaded by Liz Henry.

Jo’s daughter Eliz told me, “Don’t push down on the waffle iron.”

“Why not? It seems like I should just…”

(sploosh)

“Oh. That’s why.”

Instead of wiping it up I documented the moment. The waffles were delicious with whipped cream and sliced apples.

For the first time in weeks I got to hang out with Jo, who has been in a crisis state for quite a while. So it was nice to see her, but also very surreal to have things feel so “normal” and hang out with kids, making waffles, hearing Eliz’s oral report practice on The Sinking Of The Titanic, watching Sophie jump off the couch and dress up for a “makeover” in lipstick and 5 layers of crinolines, with Moomin messing about on the floor with the Legos and Lincoln Logs. Is this normality real? Is it okay? It was (for me) in stark contrast to some very painful times lately.

For the first time ever, Sophie was nice to Moomin and offered to play with him. She also suggested they “watch Buffy Season 3 together on a playdate sometime.” He is not quite up to that level of sophistication.

Me and Jo sat on the couch with laptops open, typing, busy, and cosy, and me with my huge binder full of papers, trying to show it off. The kids all had a melt down around 7pm – as they nearly always do – which… strangely… was also comforting. Quarrelling and pouting hour at the Casa Spanglemonkey. I watched Jo put her foot down.

We went outside to see if there was a rainbow – and came home – where I handed off Moomin to Rook without much explanation, and locked myself in my office for hours to work on my thesis: a productive end to a long busy whirlwind of a day.