Part 1: Chapter 6

Bad Day

Monday, March 30, 2020
	Steve sent me to our room to decompress for the rest of the evening, but I’m convinced it’s because I need a time-out due to my poor parenting today. Looking forward to putting this day behind me. Suspect hormones may be involved.
	This morning, while trouble-shooting the children’s iPads and trying to ascertain why they aren’t working properly, Shannon detains me in the kitchen to confess that even after canceling her gym membership, Netflix account, and Substack subscriptions, she won’t have enough to pay next month’s rent unless COVID ends, restaurants reopen, and Mission Square Restaurant takes her back. She wrings her hands and hangs her head as if she were in trouble. 
	Am rather aghast that she has no savings for emergencies, but assure her that I understand and can employ her with domestic work. She brightens immediately and suggests I write a list. Do this while Baby Johnny accidentally knocks over Theo’s block tower in the living room. Theo decides that since his tower has been knocked over, everyone’s towers need to be knocked over too, including his sister’s. Opal screams and throws a block at him, knocking over a lamp and cracking the plastic lampshade.

	“What are you doing?” Shannon asks in an authoritative voice.
	Feel jolted by her tone but am curious to see what she will do so I don't intervene.
	“Theo knocked over my town on purpose, and it was the best town I’ve ever made!” Opal whines.
	“So?” Shannon snaps back. “That doesn’t mean you can throw blocks at him.”
	“You’re not the boss of me,” Opal says with her laser eyes squinting, her cheeks flushing red, and her bang’s pink fringe quivering on her forehead.
	“Yeah, but your mom is busy writing a list,” Shannon says, hands on hips. “And she can’t stop what she’s doing and fix your problems all day long. She’s got other things to do.”
	Am conflicted between shouting, “Yeah! That’s right!” and jumping in to take over in a calmer tone where I question each party involved and discover what everyone feels. Shannon, who is not as emotionally attached to these little humans as me, has no trouble ignoring Opal’s fiery temper.