Losing Momentum

The past five days have been challenging. Not so much because of Alden's chicken pox ordeal, but because of being stuck at home with the kids and not having ME time to do stuff.

This worries me because I have several deadlines to meet next week. I thought of taking them to the office but after how things went last Wednesday, I changed my mind. Alden had made such a lasting impression on my supervisor that the thought of him in my office is unbearable.

I had an appointment with Professor X that Wednesday. I knew it was impossible to have  them both with me during the meeting so I decided to send Alden to school for an hour. He was not allowed to, but according to the teacher, if the spots have all dried and scabbed over, he could come. So that morning, I got creative and started working on his cosmetic appearance. I slapped on heaps of calamine lotion on his spots and made them look dry. To emphasize this  effect, I also put on some Fobian lotion and powder to maximize the coverage. I then dressed him up in a turtle neck top and a pair of jeans and then we were all set!

We got to school at exactly 10.30 a.m. Alden was excited but I was nervous. Upon reaching the entrance, Debs (the senior headteacher) took one look at Alden and her eyes bulged out like ping-pong balls. The  make-up obviously didn't work. She was all "Oh no Alice, he can't come". Then came the lecture about the stages of chicken pox...bla bla bla. When she was done, we both headed to the door, dejected. 

I had to bring them both to the office. So I put Alva in the portacot and got Alden to sit at my roomate's desk. I switched on the PC, searched for Thomas and Friends on YouTube and let the video do the babysitting. So far so good. Few minutes later, Professor X came. He was a bit surprised to see them but after my explanation, he smiled understandingly. 

So we started talking about my research, data analysis and SPSS. Just when things were ticking along nicely, Alden started his first drama. He wanted to watch a different clip.  He pointed to the  screen  in exasperation and shouted "this, this, this". I excused myself, rushed to his desk and clicked play. Discussion resumed for another 10 minutes and then there was another tantrum. This time he didn't want Thomas, he wanted Sponge Bob instead. Fine. I rushed to his desk, clicked the thumbnail on the screen and begged him to behave. I smiled at Professor X and aplogized for the disturbance but he was so cool about everything. "It's okay. Don't worry bout it" he said.

We then continued our discussion about SPSS. Things started to get interesting cos he was teaching me how to create a new variable using the transform function. I was so into it, first click Transform, Compute and  then..."Mama, O-O" came Alden's voice. He started jumping up and down restlessly. "Mama! O-O!!" he  shouted again. This time he wanted to poop. Such perfect timing! I told Alden to wait but of course he couldn't wait. The poop was coming out. He cried and cried histerically saying "O-O! O-O!". Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, Alva started crying too. By now, the room was a total chaos; Alden's on the verge of pooping in front of my supervisor, Alva's crying at volume no 10 and  I was  there looking at my babies in panic. Then came the smell. A very distinctive smell that filled the entire room. It was none other than Alden's silent burst of flatulence! Isn't that priceless? I was horrified. Before I could decide what to do, my kind professor excused himself and told me not to worry about the meeting. He would set up another one next week. The smell was probably too much for him.

So everything has to be put on hold now. Work, fitness class, academic writing etc. I think I've lost lost some momentum but I'm hoping to catch up next week. For the time being, I'll just stay cooped up at home until he's recovered. One thing's for sure, I am not going to bring Alden to the meeting next week