THANKS A BUNCH!!

Sometimes in your life you suddenly think ‘Thanks a bunch’!!

My ‘Thanks a bunch’ moment came yesterday evening around 9pm.

After a very stressful day at work – staff shortages yet again! I had people whining on about their problems at home, with their families (The Boyfriend phoned), their children, their partners – listening to complaints about aching backs, fevers, headaches and other assorted ailments - I arrived home and all I wanted was to have a quiet night, not burden my sons with my work problems and generally just chill. Everything was fine until 9pm when a friend of mine phoned, hoping to get some temp work whilst he is finishing his studies at University. I answered the phone, and yes I admit I do have a rather loud telephone voice, I proceeded to explain to him the politics involved in trying to secure him a position, the nepotism and near corruption in the educational system and that I would try my very best to get a positive result. All the time I was trying to have this conversation, both of my sons were blah, blah, blahing and generally thinking they were being hilarious (not) and I was getting more and more angry. They normally are good at spotting my anger rising, but because I was still talking, their hilarity was increasing exponentially – never a good thing when your mother is trying to have a serious conversation with a potential work colleague. Two minutes, that’s all I was on the phone for, two minutes out of their precious television watching time!! I came off the phone and they both launched into me with, ‘Why do have to talk so loud?’ ‘ We don’t want to hear about your work problems’ and ‘we can’t even hear what they are saying on the TV’.

My anger and frustration shows in two ways with my children –

1. I go very quiet
2. My eyes start to burn as the tears threaten to escape

My way of dealing with this is to sit there for about 5 minutes with an inane death mask grin on my face and then slowly remove myself from the site of frustration by slowly walking out of the room. I slowly walk up the stairs to my bedroom, go into my bedroom, slam the bedroom door and then throw myself on the bed and have a good cry - I was so tired, that I think I went to sleep within twenty minutes!

My children do not normally upset me in this way, but sometimes their insensitivity astounds me. I spend hours listening to my eldest telling me about his worries at work, about life and general moaning about most things on TV. My other son doesn’t really moan, except maybe about his brother sometimes, but then I do have to listen to all the moans and groans about football or him groaning because he has been killed on his on-line computer game. I spend two minutes talking about my stuff and I get pounced upon – there’s gratitude for you!!

Well just as well I have cyberspace to moan into – you do have a choice, you either read this or you don’t.

Thanks a bunch!!

Jo x