It’s not that I mind staying home.  Some would even say I’m a social isolate in the best of times.  I’m happy puttering around with projects and working on artsy crafty stuff, and I like our house and our garden.

The main problem with home is that there are others who call this place home too, and they’re not all as quiet as the cat.

“Zade is my best friend,” Milo declared, randomly, this afternoon.

“Oh yes….why is that?” I asked.  I was trying to be cordial.  Milo had spent most of the morning cycling through time-outs in his room, mainly for an insanely disrespectful attitude towards me sprinkled with serious unkindness to his sister, and I wasn’t feeling at my most expansive.  He has churned through friends at an alarming rate over his primary school years, and I was curious what special quality Zade possessed that made him the current favorite.

“He agrees with me,” Milo said, without a hint of irony.

I paused.  Well, somehow, that wasn’t all that surprising.  A little dictator in the making, Milo never suffers from self-doubt or lack of confidence.

My one goal for this home day was to do one of the Skillshare classes on-line, but somehow it was 5:25 p.m. and I was just sitting down to start one.  In a moment of bad temper I’d stated that I wasn’t going to make dinner, so Jeremiah was clattering around in the kitchen steaming dumplings and frying zucchini patties. 

“What do you put in the zucchini fritters?” he asked.  I paused my video. “One third cup flour, one quarter cup parmesan, some cream of tartar, some baking soda, an egg and some salt.”  I turned back to the screen.  Milo was working on his K’nex set in the living room, ducking in with updates on his progress punctuated with outbursts of frustration. “Are you wanting to leave the car at the end of the drive?” Jeremiah queried.  “Yes,” I said flatly, and rewound my video a bit.  Naomi was cheerfully prepping for her “How to Draw” you tube at the other end of the table, prattling on to herself and anyone else who might be listening.  “If you’re going to leave the car there, I hope you have taken out anything you’d mind getting stolen?” Jeremiah chided. 

“I need a set of noise-canceling headphones!” I exclaimed.  

“Oh no, Mom’s going sarcastic,” Milo chimed in, delightedly.

Unfortunately for his joke, it was the most literal statement I’d made all day.