How many days could she feed everyone on $36?
She’s in charge of Hot Dog Day at school tomorrow. Does she have everything and everyone she needs to pull it off?
The kids have soccer practice and she’s in charge of snack; graham crackers and juice boxes would have to come out of the family budget.
Plenty of mothers, when times are tough like they are now, plan everyday around how are they going to take care of their kids and how are they going to get even? Getting even… taking just enough medication to stay even long enough to do the laundry, clean the house, make dinner out of nothing, finagle to keep the lights, gas, and phone on, pick up temp work to fill in the gaps, volunteer at the school, and fulfill all the other duties that go with being a wife and mother.
There’s a lot of pressure on her husband too. He runs a small construction business which in itself is a balancing act. She always tries to have a sympathetic ear and a pretty countenance for him. Having big cheesy casseroles and cold beer seemed to help too. When he comes to bed after doing a couple of hours of paper work, she wraps her loving arms around him. He needs to get even too and her love helps in this cause.
So what if at night at the end of the baths, the questions, the homework, the tucking in time… So what if after all that she pours herself a stiff double of vodka mixed with the pineapple juice she got from WIC coupons this month, and takes a few hits off a joint… in the privacy of her own boudoir….
Getting Even.
Not getting ahead…
but getting even.
(First published 1/17/12)
