Bob keeps harassing me to make a Christmas list. He actually started asking me for this several months ago, and here we are: nine days before Christmas (nine days!) and I'm still finding reasons to put it off. (If you had told me five years ago that I'd have trouble coming up with gifts for myself that I'd like to receive, I would have laughed. so. hard. But now? If it's not for K, I usually have huge "but there are better ways to spend that money!" guilt over it. Unless it's something that I buy on a whim at Target. My middle-class mom money guilt seems to go out the window at Target.)
But now I've figured it out. What do I really want/need for Christmas?
A clone. Or three.
Right now, if magically gifted with a small (peaceful!) army of clones, I'd have:
-One sit down and read through the three work manuscripts I have piled up, taking diligent editorial notes and not budging until they were all read in their entirety and the client reports were delivered.
-One clean my house. Dear Baby Jesus, I don't understand how it gets so messy so quickly.
-One to tackle administrative tasks. Return e-mails, make phone calls I've been putting off, run to the post office, etc. I'd also like for them to arrange for a trash pickup service, so that we can stop piling garbage bags on the back deck. (SERIOUSLY, SELF. MAKE THAT PHONE CALL. YOU ARE LIVING LIKE AN ANIMAL.)
-One to plan out enrichment activities for K that are engaging and fun and better for her than my old standby of, "Hey, go watch TV, baby!" (*I* will still get to do the fun activities with her. I just want someone else to plan them/acquire the supplies/set up the activity station, and then, of course, clean up afterward.)
-One for general household maintenance work. Shoveling. Killing that damn mouse that's been scurrying around lately. Making the ancient furnace somehow suddenly way more efficient, because paying to heat a huge old farmhouse with a huge old furnace = bad news for the bank account.
I, naturally, will be busy playing with K out in the snow, baking cookies to warm up afterward, then snuggling on the couch watching The Office/30 Rock/Arrested Development DVDs until my loving almost-husband comes home to shower me with kisses, marvel at how nice the house looks/smells/etc, and replenish my bonbon supply.
What would you have your clone(s) do?
Have you ever seen the movie Multiplicity with Michael Keaton & Andie McDowell? The plot is quite similar to your Christmas wish.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, what would I have my clone(s) do?! That's a loaded question. But if I had to narrow it down, it would be the obvious: *housekeeper that focuses on cleaning the house and *keeping* it clean (if that involves following the kids with shovels, then so be it.) *laundry washer and daily sheet changer so I feel as if I live at The Drake Hotel 24/7 *grocery shopper, so I can avoid the embarrasing trips with a screaming 2 year old (it's like a damn game of Beat The Clock) *child entertainer, so when I need to make that important call to a client or write that proposal, I can do so without a 2 year old clinging my right leg and an 8 year old talking off my left ear.....shall I go on?!
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