I’m trying something different today. I took a morning from my weekend and wrote about it from the third person point of view. I wrote this moment twice, trying to put a different spin on the same morning.
She stood at the stove, scrambling three eggs. She had chosen three because she knew her children would demand some of her breakfast, even though she had already fed them. Her arms shook, but whether from too much caffeine or from hunger, she wasn’t sure. The day’s box on the calendar was empty, but her to-do list was long and she was tired already. The kids blowing the train whistles they had received from a restaurant didn’t help matters. Dinner was already on her mind, and she thought a movie night would be nice. But movie night meant pizza, homemade pizza, and she would have to run out for the necessary ingredients. The thought of it all was exhausting.
The reason for the dark circles underneath her eyes was her own fault. She had stayed up way too late the night before, savoring the hours when her children were sleeping. Very predictably, her daughter woke her up at dawn. She walked with her little one down the stairs and helped her turn on the T.V. Stumbling back up to stairs, she hoped she would be able to go back to sleep. After a few minutes, she realized it would be impossible and threw back the covers. It was going to be another very long day.
She threw aside the covers to let her daughter snuggle with her for a few minutes before they headed downstairs. It was a Saturday morning, and she really wished she could sleep later, but she knew how much Lily hated going downstairs by herself. So she made the most of the early wake-up call, made some coffee and started to read the book she had just checked out from the library.
Later that morning, as she listened to Lily and her sister blowing whistles in the living room, she reached for three eggs. She had already fed the girls their breakfast, but somehow she knew that they would be hungry again after their playtime. She was already thinking about dinner; pizza and a movie would make a fun evening at home. The girls always enjoyed movie night. The eggs were scrambled, and she threw in a little cheese. “Girls!” she called. “Do you want some eggs?” They came running to the table, eager to eat again. They all sat down at the table. She looked at the clock; there was still plenty of time to accomplish the items on her to-do list.
