Picking My Battles

A residentially syndicated cartoon by certifiable artist and middle-aged mom Rachel “Ma” Barlow.

Double Visions

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Swearing-Hill-Bifocals

In the last 3-4 months, I’ve gone legally blind in the right eye. I made an appointment with the doctor after realizing I couldn’t always read the word ‘Stop’ on the big red sign at the end of our dirt road.

After the appointment,I googled my brand new disorder and found out “..[retinoschisis]… is manifested in two types namely, the senile kind and the juvenile sort”.  The blurry vision doesn’t bother me nearly as much as having any part of my body classified as ‘the senile kind.’

I made a mental note to not let the teenager in the house know about this.

Monday, Monday

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Swearing-Hill-Brother-Up-In-Arms

Thing2 is a little subdued today.

Most mornings by 8 am, he’s chirping with the birds outside, doing a  sock-footed slide from room to room hoping to “accidentally” wake the sleeping thirteen-year-old giant in the room near the end of the hall.  By 9am, he’s tapping at the door.  At 10am, the giant has breakfasted and retreated to his cave and Thing2 dances outside the door with a soft mischievous smile on his face.

“MOOOOOOMMMMM!” usually reverberates through my office no later than noon as Thing2’s latest attempt to “play” with the giant backfires and the accusations fly.  The tears dry quickly and round 2 begins shortly after the afternoon snack.

Today,the giant is away at computer camp for the next two, and the house is eerily quiet.  The only chirping is coming from the open window.  Thing2 has his nose stuck in a book or his head bent over the iPad. We’ll find something special to do this afternoon, but this morning, there’s no dancing or yelling through closed doors.  There’s no “he started it”, and it’s too dang quiet.