Rat In My Kitchen!

The past two weeks have been full on.  I have had barely a moment to myself.  Life has been frantic but at the same time exciting.  I am trying to build my business and have managed to land a couple of clients.  In addition there are a couple of exciting projects looming.  However, do not equate busy with lucrative as I am still spending a lot of time in my car and in coffee shops trying to convince people I am “the best thing since sliced bread!”  As a result my time is being squeezed between schmoozing and “doing the job”.  It’s starting to pile up and I find myself working over the weekend.  I try to make myself feel better about it by repeatedly telling myself “when you are self employed everyday is a work day!!!!”  Not sure I’m convinced yet that is a good thing.

Now I’m not complaining.  Its good to be busy.  I am building a business for our future.  But as every single parent will tell you that you seem to be continuously on the treadmill.  The situation gets worse for those times when you have to stay away overnight.  There is so much to organize.  Get the washing done and take it to Lisa for ironing; pick the ironing up; arrange for keys to be left for the cleaners; make sure Joe has enough Turkey Drummers to survive.  I am fortunate that my dad cuts the grass and mum cleans the oven.  Karen pops in on a Tuesday to make sure the kids are okay.  To be fair Georgina has stepped up and  has been brilliant.  She has matured so much over the past six months and cooks for herself and Joe when I’m not around.

So with the great circle of friends and family everything gets done.  Well not quite everything.  Now I am past the stage of worrying what the kids are up to when they’re left in the house on their own.  A few years ago I used to worry to death about Georgina would have a “face book party”.  I used to threaten pain of death to the Georgina and Joe if they even thought about it.  Time has moved on and I no longer worry about those incidents you read in the newspapers.  Those poor parents that have returned from holiday or a weekend break to find their house trashed after their ”little sweetness and light” “butter wouldn’t melt…” has inadvertently invited every teenager in the city to the home for a party.  My situation is a bit different from that.

So after a long week, I’m looking forward dinner, slump on to the sofa in front of the TV and I cant wait for “gin o’clock”.  Imagine my joy when I return home on Friday to find the house in a complete mess

“Surely they didn’t have a party?” I thought to myself.

Well luckily the answer was “no”.  No this was the work of just two people:  my beloved children Georgina and Joe.  The worse room was the kitchen.  It had been blitzed.  What is it about the teenagers (I know that Georgina is not a teenager technically) and the inability to wash up and put stuff away.

The dishwasher was still full with “clean” stuff from two days before.  Pots, pans , empty baked beans tins and pizza trays all stacked in the sink.  Used mugs, pizza boxes, coats, jumpers and even a make up mirror on the worktops.   Goodness only knows what its going to like when I return from Australia.

I don’t even want to think what Caroline would have said.  She would have gone ballistic.  Her pride and joy being ransacked! It was bad enough if we left a cup out. Oh my goodness!  We would all be scurrying for cover.

I don’t want to sound like an old woman! I guess you’ve got to take the positives from any situation.  At least they did eat and fend for themselves, which is a step forward I suppose. Hey, at least Georgina is passing some of pile the plates up skills she learnt as a student and is showing Joe the way!