Surviving the tedium when the tide of life takes the road less travelled

I anticipated a crisis in my domestic sphere when I heard that our regular help would be gone this week and schools are closed. So I would be left holding the baby, quite literally, since the young one of the house is home.

I was glad when his grandma stepped in to help as I thought their activities would allow me a little space and time to write this column. But alas! The weekly ritual, a task normally undertaken in solemn silence, was conducted in a riotous din that involved negotiating just about everything - from the volume on TV to keeping the young man from crushing my toes using his skates. Alternately, he and his grandma made enthused cries as the lady cheered on the young man's golfing prowess – in a computer game – while discussing possible birthday gifts for the woman of the house, whose milestone is being marked today.