KIDS ON THEIR OWN

KIDS ON THEIR OWN


(A story I wrote when the kids were small.)

I left the house at 6:30 Wednesday morning for a meeting. My husband was out of town. That meant the kids were on their own - and they weren't even out of bed yet.

When I returned, they were standing at the mailbox waiting for the bus, with their coats on and their books and lunch bags in their hands. Boy was I proud.

I pulled into the garage and walked up the driveway to kiss them goodbye. The two frowns that met me would have frightened away a lion. One was mad because I had taken the other shopping yesterday. We talked and (hopefully) got things straightened out.

I hugged them goodbye and caught a whiff of the Italian beef I had bought for their lunch sandwiches. "Good," I thought. "They found it."

We heard the bus coming, and I got shooed away. It wasn't as if I was in my pajamas or something. Why would it embarrass them for me to be standing there when the bus stopped? I sometimes don't understand the workings of the adolescent mind. In fact, I never understand!

I started to head back to the house, then circled back just so I could hear them scream and see them frantically wave their arms for me to "Go back! Go back!" After harassing them about three times, I went back into the house laughing.

In the kitchen I put down my car keys. There on the counter were the remains of two slices of pie - one pizza and one cherry. PIZZA! CHERRY PIE! For breakfast?

I suppose I'll never know what was really in those lunch bags.