New Kid On The Blog

Taken from Sushi for Beginners - Marian Keyes

At quarter to seven on Saturday morning, Clodagh was woken by Molly. Head-butting her.

'Wake up, wake up, wake up,' Molly invited, fractiously. 'Craig is making a cake.'

There were some benefits to having children, Clodagh thought wearily, dragging herself from the bed - for instance, she hadn't had to set an alarm clock for five years.

She was meeting Ashling in town. They were going shopping.

'And I think we should start early,' Ashling had said. 'To miss the crowds.'

'How early?'

'About ten.'

'Ten!'

'Or eleven, if that's too early.'

'Too early? I'll have been awake for several hours by then.'

After she'd cleaned up the cake mess, Clodagh gave Craig a bowl of Rice Krispies, but he wouldn't eat them because she'd poured too much milk into the bowl. So she made him another bowl, this time getting the milk-cereal ratio just right. Then she gave Molly a bowl of Sugar-Puffs. As soon as Craig saw Molly's breakfast, he took violently against his Rice Krispies, declaring that they were poisonous. With much spoon-banging and milk-splashing, he loudly demanded Sugar-Puffs instead. Clodagh wiped a splatter of milk from her cheek, opened her mouth to begin a speech about how he'd made his choice and that he had to learn to live with it, then couldn't be bothered. Instead she picked up his bowl, tipped the contents into the bin and grimly banged the box of Sugar-Puffs down in front of him.

Craig's delight dimmed. He didn't really want them now. Getting them had been too easy, yet not quite right.

As Clodagh tried to get ready for her trip into town, the children obviously sensed she was trying to make good her escape. They were more clingy and demanding than usual and when she got into the shower, they both insisted on accompanying her.

'Remember the days when I was the one who used to get into the shower with you,' Dylan observed wryly when she emerged, trying to dry herself, children hanging on to her.

'Yeees,' she said, nervously. She didn't want him remembering how raunchy their sex-life once used to be. In case he asked for his money back. Or worse still, tried to reactivate things.

'Here, dry her.' She pushed Molly towards him. 'I'm in a hurry.'

As Clodagh reversed her Nissan Micra out of the drive, Molly stood at the front door and bawled, 'I want to go!' with such agony that several of the neighbours rushed to their windows to see who was being murdered.

'So do I!' Craig screeched in harmony. 'Come back, oh Mummy, come back.'

Contrary little bastards, Clodagh thought, as she sped down the road. They spent most of the week telling her that they hated her, that they wanted their daddy, then the minute she tried to have a couple of hours for herself, she suddenly became flavour of the month and immersed in guilt.

# posted by Skye @ 8:38 pm