For the last week and a half, my cell phone has been on the fritz. Dropping calls, never getting calls or texts, you know, all of the kind of things that you have a phone for in the first place. Since it is my work phone, I have to send it in to be looked at or replaced; so it is going to take some time. But I don’t know if I am in such a hurry to get it back anyway.
My boys and husband are always yelling at me anyway because I never answer my phone when they call or I don’t immediately respond to texts. I tell them I am usually working or busy when they are calling or texting and I get to them when I can. I know this is irritating for them, but what is irritating to me is that they feel that whatever it is that I am doing is never as important as what they are calling or texting for. Now that isn’t really any different than how they act when we are all around each other in person. I don’t think I was able to pee by myself until they moved out of the house. Actually, with my two pups, things haven’t changed very much in that area.
I have moved away from the Facebook craze and don’t mind in the least not to read up on everyone else’s politics, what they fixed for breakfast or how cute their kid was showing them their first poop.
Anyway, not being accessible has actually been amazing. My husband always has his phone with him and the boys know to call him if they can’t reach me. I kind of feel like it is high time for him to step up and take some of these calls anyway. And although I never want an emergency to happen, it is hilarious to hear my hubby answer the phone and hear his response to one of our sons needing help on deciding whether to fix himself macaroni and cheese or a frozen pizza. I guess we all have our own definitions of an emergency.
But it is more than that. I used to work in a job that phone calls were always coming in. So multitasking was essential. At the end of the day, I was exhausted and I never felt as if I accomplished anything because between the different employees needing help all throughout the day and the phone ringing and those problems needing to be fixed right then and there, time to do my own work always had to come after hours or on the weekend. And while all of this is going on, my cell phone is also ringing and dinging because my husband is texting me and letting me know that he is feeling horny and wants to give me a heads up so that when I get home I can be prepared for a lovefest. And my boys are just checking in and wanting to know when can I get home and fix supper. Fuck!
So now that I am in a job that the phone rarely rings and I am in the office with only one other part-time employee, my reflexes for picking up the phone have dulled. Having this phone to be on the fritz has been wonderful. In fact, I am starting to realize that not being available and anxious to drop everything I am doing to address the needs of others, it is starting to remind and teach them that they can and should be doing things for themselves.
Ahh, am I not just the perfect wife and mother? Still teaching them the ways of the world.