MSEJ July 2017 | Page 15

15

.

If you are interested please send your resume to Bianca Nafpliotis, Career Corps Volunteer Program Coordinator at [email protected].

One breakfast made, Pandora “cardio” station turned on, and… newly freed from the shackles of school, child number one joins us. (Why do children not sleep in?)

Breakfast number two made, and I step onto the exercise apparatus…“I finish. I down.” Cardio becomes an exercise in mediation, during which I usher child one and child two from trampoline to step to resistance bands to the tune of “my turn.”

It is now 7:20 a.m.

We settle into a calm, if not idyllic, rhythm, during which I check and respond to emails, apply edits to a press release, and complete research on industry certifications. More than an hour goes by.

I receive a chat message from my boss, and I call her. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Three minutes into the call, thing number two screeches at thing number one, “I want it. My turn. My turn. My turn. MY TURRNNNNNNNNNNNNN.”

I apologize to my boss and finish our conversation through a muffled refrain of “stop it” and “be quiet” hand signals.

It is now 9:05 a.m.

I hang up the phone and ask my darling children, “Ok, what can I do for you?”

Only seventy-five and a half more days until school starts.

Do you work from home with little ones? Are you trying to keep your job search afloat while your kids are home on summer break? We’d love to laugh and learn with you about your challenges and successes.

Author’s Note: The rest of the day went much better. Child number one made it to the two-hour summer camp. Both children were fed and had quiet time, and we didn’t rely on Netflix Nanny until the afternoon. We will survive.

Me

Writer, Mom, & Referee