Yesterday the devil came into my home and took over my child's body, I'm sure of it. We had an afternoon filled with tantrums, growling, screaming, crying and time-outs. I can't tell you how many times I heard the phrase, "No, Mommy!" or how often I found Addie doing something she knows she's not supposed to do, then have her look at me as if I was evil for discovering she had done it. It was awful.
In the middle of it all, my beloved Fred decided that no, in fact he would not give me one last warm rinse for Addie's cloth diapers. No way. I spent several hours taking dangerous items out of my child's hands, speaking to the Lowe's service department, keeping my girl from beating up the cat, looking up dates and numbers from when Fred was purchased, scrounging up a snack and trying to keep my head from popping off of my neck.
At one point, I plopped on the couch and noticed the classifieds from the weekend paper sitting off to the side. For a moment I thought maybe it would be a good idea if I went back to work full time. Then Addie pulled some sort of moisture detection device out of a house plant and my brief fantasy was over. I think I have my hands plenty full without throwing a 9 to 5'er in the mix, thank you very much Ms. Self-Doubt.
Somehow we made it through the day... A call from my sister in Dominica helped, although I think she won the prize for having it worse than me. Another big plus was a visit from our dear friend and neighbor, who valiantly came to collect the diapers to run them through a rinse in her own washing machine. I pulled Fred's contents out and showed her what was wrong... Then he got bashful and decided to work again. Good heavens, Fred! Really? Sigh... It's OK. I forgive you. Just don't pull that crap again!
All triteness aside, today is a new day. The diapers are clean, the appliance service is postponed and the fiercely scary evil seems to have left the building. Already the mood has shifted and I am finding myself in a much happier place... with the ablility to find humor in the silly things, the strength to take heart during the tough moments and the grace to love my girl even more. Thank God it's Thursday.
2 comments:
Have you read "Fred's" owner's manual? We found that our washing machine (same as yours) has some unique traits if not used according to the manual. Also, have you run a cleaning tablet through it lately? I'm just trying to give you suggestions to keep Fred happy. ;p
Oh yes, I did all that. I found the manual and tried all the "troubleshooting" suggestions only to have no results. I recently ran it through a cleaning cycle also. I guess he just needed a break for whatever reason. We postponed the service appointment for a week to see how he does and if he's ok by then, I'll just cancel it. So glad he's not broken, but it was beyond irritating!
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