Wear and tear

I looked at this Chinese Lantern tonight and thought, that's me, that is.

I start each term full of energy and plump with memories of summer. I'm not orange, but I've got a healthy glow. I'm full of life.

As the term starts and I spend eight hours a day at my desk, locked in, screen-faced, bits of me start to suffer from wear and tear. I start going 'ooh' when I stand up, and I rub my shoulders, my back, my eyes. Bits of me are starting to go.

Then around my job, I fit my other jobs. Racing to fit in three different pick-ups, matches, a swimming gala, parents' evenings, practices, tea, gym, homework, Sometimes, like tonight, two parents' evenings on the same night, different locations. Going back to the lantern analogy; cracks are starting to appear.

Then throw something else into the mix. Like a suspected broken foot (Sally) or Tom taking the staples out of his text book (why?? For the record it takes a long time and more patience than I possess to re-thread every page of a book onto new staples. Don't do it.), a lost phone ... And there we go, back to that poor old lantern looking a bit ragged around the edges.

Clearly, I'm lucky. I've got Jamie. Thank God. And there's nothing wrong with our lot and we're lucky to have jobs, and children, and really minor problems. But look at that lantern. That's me, that is. And we've only just begun!


Update: Sal's foot isn't actually broken, just bruised and strained. Thank goodness. And the lost phone, which sparked a full-scale search, involving quite a few kind teachers, was actually found at home, still plugged in to the charger, where it had been left by accident that morning. Oh how we'll laugh. One day.