An Awful Afternoon
Sometimes I feel that being the mother of three small children is like
running a large circus(马戏团). One afternoon last week, my three sons were playing
peacefully in the back-yard, throwing the ball from one to the other. I jumped
at the chance to talk to one of my friends on the phone, but before I got to the
phone, I could tell that the boys had begun to quarrel with each other over
something. I rushed out to make peace, but before I got there, Charles had begun
to fight over this. Even David, the oldest boy, who won’t usually fight with
anybody over anything, was involved. First, I made them stop fighting, and then
I examined Mark’s eye. I decided that it wasn’t going to develop into a black
eye, but I felt that they should suffer at least a little for what they had
done. "I’m going to speak to your father about these when he comes home
tonight," I said. "He and I will think of how to punish you. " Things were
pretty quiet after that for about half an hour, and then Charles broke a glass
in the kitchen sink, and at almost the same moment, Mark fell out of the
apple tree. I suppose I will be able to laugh at all these things someday. In
the meantime, I just pray to heaven for patience.
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