Rush Hour

For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. ~Doug Larson

Part I

Before I realized, a weekend had come and gone without a trace.

Saturday was spent clearing up the aftermath from the twelve-day trip of a little girl. One could never imagine how when the content of a small luggage was spilled out, the vast floor space of a bedroom couldn’t even contain it. It’s alright if you don’t understand what I am saying. It’s not meant to be understood.

Amazingly, the most grueling task was not the washing of the soiled clothing. Although I needed to separate the washings into three full loads, hang the clothes out to dry three times and collect the dried laundry in three times, it was merely the mechanical chore of dumping the clothes into the washing machine, waiting for the wash to complete and draping them onto the bamboo poles again.

Even the heap, or rather the Everest Mountain-ful, of clothes piling up on my bed was not the greatest challenge. Once again, it was just a matter of monotonously turning out the clothes, folding them and stacking them into neat piles.

Stashing away the stuffs she brought to the trip was not much a hassle too. It’s just a few walks to and from her room to the other rooms, and a few shove and shuffle to make space for the extra travel-sized toiletries.

The real headache arose when I need to put away the knick knacks she brought back from the trip. Apart from the souvenirs she bought, there were the loose pieces of papers she had written on or drawn on during her lessons in the school there, the little pamphlets or brochures of the different places she visited, the assorted gifts like paper cranes and cards her buddy there had presented her, the kite the school had kindly bestowed upon the pupils… Frankly speaking, uncovering the items from the luggage was like pulling treasures out of Doraemon’s magical pocket. How did they manage to fit inside a small luggage?

Everything, even the little pieces of papers, is of precious value to me. It speaks of an invaluable experience learnt from the incredible trip. I couldn’t bear to throw any of the precious prizes away.

The problem is, Rachel is a junk collector. Her room was overflowing with junks she had no heart to dispose of. Thus, finding vacancies to store new things is a real headache.

In the end, I packed all the memories from the trip into a paper bag awaiting Her Highness to decide on their fate.

Part II

A week’s of school holiday just slipped off without my notice. School had reopened once more to the dismay of the kids but to my utmost delight.

However, we had trouble adjusting to the paces to the fast lane again after a week’s of slacking at home. Besides having to wake up earlier in the morning, the mornings were a mad rush with their aunt being unable to drive them to school as she had undergone Lasik treatment for her myopia and needed to rest her eyes for a week or so.

To make things worse, the kids came back from school on Monday with their previous test results. How well they score could easily be detected from the colour code on my face: Black.

In view of their drastic drop, I had come up with a study schedule which started right from Tuesday morning. Mervin and Angel are to wake up early each morning to revise their work before they go to school. Rachel will revise hers when she comes back from school in the afternoon. In the evenings after dinner, they’ll do their homework and more revisions follow.

Please do not think that I’m the Vampire out for their blood. In fact, after merely three days, I felt so weak and fatigue that I was afraid I was the one going dry. By Friday, I almost kneeled on the floor and sang “Hallelujah” to the One above. Mervin was supposed to have band in the morning and Rachel badminton in the afternoon and we were going for my in-law’s place for dinner… PHEW!

As it turned out, Rachel didn’t need to attend school on Friday as it was PSLE listening comprehension day for the Primary Six pupils. Mervin and Angel, on the other hand, still needed to go to school. But all activities were being cancelled on the day.

Nonetheless, I followed the timetable I had set to the dot and allowed them to have free time in the morning. But disaster struck when Mervin suddenly exclaimed at half-past ten,

“Mummy! Our teacher had asked us to look for newspaper cuttings of food. We need the pictures today for our Health Education project!”

“And you are telling me now?” my jaws nearly dropped.

“How? How?” he was as panicky as ants on a hot plate.

“What how? Start finding now! You don’t have much time left, you know?” I nearly hit the roof.

Without another word, we rummaged through the newspaper we brought back from my in-law’s place for Kristel’s toilet. Where were all the pictures of food when you needed them?

“Mummy, lunch…” Angel whispered hesitantly.

“Come, Angel. I’ll cook both of you some instant noodles,” Rachel was such a Darling!

After fifteen minutes, we only managed to find a couple of miserable pictures.

“Mummy, I needed to find pictures on fruits and vegetables too,” Mervin suddenly said meekly.

“And you are telling me now?” I nearly suffered a stroke.

I fumbled through the papers again for the fruits and vegetables which seemed to become extinct while Mervin joined Angel for lunch.

“Mummy, my uniform is not ironed yet…” Angel mumbled through mouthful of noodles.

I lifted my head from the papers scattered around me and grunted impatiently, “Isn’t there another suit in your wardrobe?”

With that I buried my head into the heaps of papers again.

Another fifteen minutes passed and I did my best to find whatever Mervin needed for his Health Education project. I was rushing into my bathroom to prepare myself when I spotted Rachel ironing Angel’s uniform for her.

“Why didn’t she take the one in the wardrobe?” I asked.

“That one had a missing button. It’s alright. I’ve almost finished ironing this uniform for her,” Rachel replied.

I was so proud of my girl that I wanted to give her a bear hug and a big wet kiss. But time was running out and Rachel wasn’t one who craved for outrageous attention. Hence, I patted her tenderly on her head and thanked her profusely for being such a great help to me.

I rushed Mervin and Angel to school but still ended almost late. On my way, I kept thinking of all the wonderful help Rachel had given me. My girl was definitely growing up. She’s really able to take care of her siblings now.

I was still beaming with pride as I approach the gate. I entered and saw Rachel lying on the sofa with her book on hand with her usual pose.

“Hi! Rachel,” I decided not to get angry with the sight of the papers still scattered over the floor and her things strewn all over the table.

I walked into my bedroom and saw the ironing board and iron still in the middle of the room.

Simmer down. Simmer down. I tried to cool myself. Didn’t she just helped me to iron Angel’s uniform?

I moved to the kitchen and saw the bowls and pot piling in the sink.

Alright, she did help me to cook lunch for her sister and brother.

As I went into the bathroom and saw her newspaper-wrapped feminine bundle still lying in the basin, my fuse broke.

“Rachel!”