Dateline Boston — To get to work, I have to take a train and a bus. On Tuesday I had to be at work at 8 a.m. I left my house at 7 and got on the train. The train got me to the bus stop at 7:35. The bus wasn’t due until 7:54. I had to take a taxi to get to work on time. One taxi was waiting to take a passenger, so I walked over to it.
A woman was walking in front of me, and I thought was going to cross the street. Nope. She wanted a taxi. She got in the taxi and off they went. I had to call the taxi company and request a cab, because taxis around here don’t just drive around by the hundred like they do in New York City, That is what I’m used to. Even though I haven’t lived in New York City in over 20 years.
When I got to work, Aurora had missed her school bus. She and her dad had to run to school so she wouldn’t be late. Dad handed me baby Zane, who was crying. Dad and Aurora ran out the door. Toddler Theo said to me, “Can you change my diaper?”
I put Zane down for a nap first, then changed Theo’s poopy diaper. I made Theo an egg for breakfast, but all he wanted was crackers. We compromised by me spreading peanut butter on crackers. He ate that, then said in a singsong voice, “Now I can have a cookie!”
When Zane woke up, he was crying. I knew he was hungry. I gave him his bottle, and he drank it all, but he kept crying. I had to defrost breast milk from the freezer, which took a long time. Zane cried until I gave him his second bottle. He drank all of that, but he was still crying. I checked his diaper. Clean. I texted Mom. She wondered if he was teething. She said she would come home.
When Mom got home, I had been holding the nonstop crying Zane for an hour. She checked his temperature and discovered he had a fever.
Ms. Vaillancourt may be contacted at snobbyblog@gmail.com
