Anyway, in the spirit of parents helping each other out, I asked CH for yet another favor, and she happily obliged. As I mentioned, there are a ton of things going on over here, and with one market over, we have to prepare for another. This meant that between the two markets, we have to make more dumplings, and lots of them.
To complicate this matter, the kids had tennis lessons, and HH called in the AM to see if we could watch the girls (including their dog) for a few hours while she ran her own errands. I told her we had to be somewhere at 12:00, but come on over. Talk about a busy morning. Also, the local market was going on that evening, and the kids wanted to go. I just wanted to sit at home and watch reruns of Gilligan’s Island.
Suffice it to say, I didn’t want to burden CH with more kids to watch over, but I found ways to justify doing just that. First off, CH and I can always count on one another in our time of need when it comes to watching the kids. It’s nice to have someone you trust. Our kids all get along like crazy, and they have fun together because they have similar dispositions, which is a bonus. And finally, we all drive to the same place for tennis, which can be construed as wasteful, and carpooling makes more sense.
So, with all of this brilliant logic in mind, I decided to ask CH if she could take the kids with her to tennis, allowing me to make dumplings. She was happy to help, but mentioned that she had errands to run afterward, and if it was okay, would take the kids along. I said fine, take as much time as you need, I’d be holed up behind a hot stove all day.
I thus had to prepare while HH’s kids were over. They just played with the dog and then came inside to do their nails, leaving me to make dumplings. At some point, I had to pack lunches for the kids, as well as snacks for them and H’s. CH came by and packed everyone into her car, and they were off. Everyone was excited, including me, because I didn’t have to bore the kids with cooking dumplings all day. They were really excited, and I appreciate CH’s willingness to take them.
CH mentioned she had some shopping to do in W. Leb, and if it was okay, she’d take A&N along. I said they’d love it, because it’s always more fun shopping with friends than boring old dad. CH said it actually made her life easier because her kids also get bored with shopping, and now they had friends along to share in the misery. I love when things work out like that.
It turned out to be quite a day. They were out all day, and didn’t come back until the late afternoon. I was able to complete about half of the dumplings. At one point near the end of my toiling, our friend showed up and asked if I could help her load her truck before the local market. I was in the middle of doing all sorts of things, but our friend is disabled, and I felt like I couldn’t say no. Plus, she’s a good friend, and we all like her so much.
I dropped everything, jumped in her truck, and we headed over to the farm to load up the back. She then dropped me back off, I finished up with the dumplings, and then R came home early to help out. By about 4:30, CH returned with the kids, and they were pumped and ready to head over to the market. Needless to say, I wasn’t, but such is the life of a SAHD, always running around for your kids. At least I didn’t have to cook supper.
The market was nice, the weather was beautiful, though I didn’t have my good friend DH there to save me and keep me company. It actually worked out fine, N brought his frisbee, and JD was there with her son, so we played out on the grass. It dawned on me that her son, ED, might be a good playmate for N, but it’s also dangerous meddling too much in the affairs of your kids.
We always end up staying at the market until it closes, which means we were there until about 7:30. Talk about a long day. We packed up and headed home. The local market has been slow, and I have to confess, as guilty as I feel about not doing it, I sure don’t miss all that extra work. We have enough going on over here, as you might have gathered.
Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Ivan Prole for the pic.
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