I’ve been lucky the past few days at work–I’ve been able to leave shortly after 5:00 pm. However, tonight must have been payback for easy days at work.

I pull into the driveway, and notice that Graem is asleep in Shawna’s car. It’s a much-needed nap (which are far and few between these days), so I figure I might as well go inside and actually be able to use the bathroom before starting the post-work routine.

When I get in the door, Shawna insists on showing me the “gifts” that Peanut has left me in the basement: since the litterbox was at full capacity, he decided to gather kitty litter crumbs from outside the box and leave a steaming mound on top of them. Shawna and I go back upstairs to negotiate cooking dinner and poop duty, when Bailey starts gagging and heaving under the table. Dog vomit is added to the negotiation list.

I will save the gory details of catbox duty, but I find that we’re out of bleach, which I use to rinse out the box (not sure why, seems like a good idea but a waste of time). The bleach is in the back of Shawna’s car–yes, the same car which Grammy is so peacefully sleeping in. I debate with myself quickly on whether to abandon catbox duty to let her sleep–but then realize if I don’t finish it now, it will never get done and we will be blessed with landmines throughout the house, primarily in the bathtub. So I go ahead and risk the consequence of waking up Graem–which is of course inevitable.

After grabbing the bleach and washing my hands for the 15th time, I go back to shut off the car and bring Grammy-No-Nap into the house, along with another box of diapers to add to our stockpile. Grammy’s a piece of work and cries in her high chair, in spite of the cheerios I’ve offered as consolation. I HAVE to finish the catbox while Shawna works on dinner. It never fails–the second I finish refilling the catbox, both Peanut and Murphy have to use the facility.

Back to Bailey. Obviously feeling better after puking on the kitchen floor, she finds the two baby carrots that Graem had flung on the floor, and chews them to bits on the carpet. One more thing to do after feeding Grammy. Dinner’s almost done, but Grammy’s in a needy mood and needs to be held constantly. I pass her off to Shawna, not without some tears, so I can finish up the chutney for dinner and plate everything.

It’s understood that tonight’s a dinner on the couch, given Grammy’s intolerance for the high chair. Grammy sits next to me so she can have a second dinner of some bites of curry and rice. This keeps her quiet and still for a little while, and shortly she moves to mooch off of Shawna. I’m in the midst of trying to finish my dinner when all of a sudden Graem jerks and throws her head directly into my bowl. I guess it’s bath night! Graem now has chicken shahi korma and two kinds of chutney and rice grains in her hair. Luckily it matches her sweater. At least bath time is a break to put away dishes….