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‘Wow, I’m really honoured. I’d love to!’ A thrill rippled throughout her body. ‘I’d have to figure out what to do with my other two children though, depends if my husband’s working or sleeping off his night shift.’
‘If you like, they can join our after-school program in the building next door. There’s a room for the littlies, and another for the primary students,’ Mrs Fern suggested. ‘They can stay free of charge for the hour, as a thank you for your time and effort.’
‘You’ve got yourself a deal.’ Cara shook Mrs Fern’s hand.
‘Great! I’ll give you some forms to fill in when you come by tomorrow, and you’ll just have to agree to a police check about working with children, then we’ll be good to go.’
Police check?Cara hoped Jacob’s unnecessary call to emergency services wouldn’t be a problem.
And working with children?That’s all I do!
‘Oh, and if you could bring in a list of ideas for the classes, we can work out a schedule of activities for the next month or two, and I’ll get some flyers printed to give to the parents.’
Mrs Fern sounded organised, and Cara was convinced the woman’s drawers would be tidy and all her socks would have matching pairs.
‘Sounds good. I’ll bring a list of ideas tomorrow.’Wait,did I say tomorrow?It occurred to Cara why her To Do List was never completed. She kept adding to it.
When Pete had leftfor another night shift and the kids were tucked up in bed, Tommy Teddy tucked tightly under Toby’s armpit, Cara retreated to the bedroom and got out her notepad. Before writing her ‘To Do List’, she’d always write a ‘Done List’; things she’d achieved that day. A mother from playgroup had suggested it: ‘It allows you to focus on the things youhavedone, rather than the things you haven’t,’ she’d said. Only thing was, the ‘To Do List’ always seemed to be longer than the ‘Done List’.
The Done List:
1. Did two loads of washing.
2. Remembered Jacob’s show-and-tell (and, got a job offer from it, yay!)
3. Bought more eczema cream for Toby. Okay, so I forgot in the morning, but I went back later.
4. Dealt with the kitchen drawer conspiracy. But I’ll be checking again tomorrow to make sure!
5. Checked Facebook and told my friends I still exist. Well not literally, I posted my status as‘Cara Collinsis wondering what it feels like to sleep through the night.’
6. Got distracted by memes, mindless quizzes, and predictive text games on Facebook.
7. Did the shopping (and remembered the toilet paper this time!)
Smiling at her accomplishments, Cara turned the page and began a new ‘To Do List’. She listed things still to be completed, and added more:
1. Book a doctor’s appointment for Toby.
2. Find missing socks.
3. If socks are found, stick them together with safety pins. Actually, better make that clothes pegs, as safety pins aren’t really that safe. At least, not with my kids.
4. Do what Liz Ashford said and ‘find time for myself’. I don’t know where I’ll find that. Probably the same place the socks are hiding.
5. Write a list of ideas for art classes, preferably ones that don’t involve cardboard toilet rolls.
‘Actually,’Cara said. ‘No time like the present.’
She turned over another page.
Art Class Ideas:
1. Self portrait drawings.
2. Paint plaster shapes. Butterflies and bugs perhaps.
3. Papier maché balloons.
