My mother was a genius, and so was yours.
He's back in my office, the dog having won that argument. I should hit save and send this before he pushes that butThere is a terrible noise coming from the living room. It is not, as I had feared, an invasion of Huns here to lay waste to our otherwise perfectly manicured subdivision. It is merely the dog and the boy yelling at one another over who has rights to said dog's tail. Since the dog outweighs the boy by a ratio of four to one, my money's on the dog.Working at home raises a plethora of questions best left to the Human Resources Office. Should the parent be charged with a sick day if he works from home? What if she doesn't work a full eight hours? Is it simpler to have the employee off and tell him not to work, or is some work better than a full day lost?Assuming tomorrow's appointment goes about like the last one, my productivity for Tuesday and half of Wednesday will be greatly reduced. Despite that, I have been able to read and respond to e- mail, check my calendar, and adjust the greeting on my voice mail so that if you tried to call me at work today you would know that I'm not there.It was coffee grounds. Non-poisonous, which has become my only criterion for concern. If it doesn't involve the CDC, I don't panic.He has re-closed the office door and is chewing on the wire connected to the speaker on the bookcase. I'm guessing that's unhealthy.There is an upside: I am writing in pajama pants, T-shirt and slippers. Downside: I have eaten two bowls of Cap'n Crunch, six handfuls of Cheez-Its and a bag of popcorn. The baby has eaten toast, organic risotto and a handful of dog food.No one, as I recall, was so desperately busy all of the time until we got the tools to make things easier.We are here because said baby spent most of the night impersonating Vesuvius. There were a lot of sheets and jammies to wash, but not much sleep to be had. It seemed that might warrant a trip to the pediatrician, who does not have an appointment available until tomorrow afternoon. The last time we had an afternoon appointment at the pediatrician we showed up 10 minutes early and sat in the waiting room until our appointment time had come and gone and an additional hour had passed. After our five-minute visit with the doctor, we waited another 40 minutes in the exam room for the nurse to come administer the vaccinations. The explanation: She got busy on the phone and forgot we were in there.I have also managed a conference call today and, with a little luck, the completion of this column, which I shall e-mail to the office. None of those things were possible when our parents were raising us. If there was a sick child, someone stayed home and did nothing but care for the patient, and that was usually Mom's job. She still managed to take care of work, without the benefit of a smart phone, e-mail, or conference calling, but it waited. There were no three-hour doctor's visits then, and even if Mom couldn't do business for a day, it didn't seem to significantly impair the speed of commerce.He has learned to open the large drawer that holds the kitchen trash containers. I don't know what he has just removed from the trash bag, but it's headed for his mouth. I'll be right back.He has wandered into my home office and pulled the door closed behind him, which surprises him, so the current ambient noise is frantic baby-banging on a glass door.
He's back in my office, the dog having won that argument. I should hit save and send this before he pushes that but
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