So, It's Saturday Night

What does a true anarchist do on a Saturday night when husband is gone and not requiring housework and hogging the remote? When you're me, you farm out the oldest kid and convince the little ones it's bedtime a half hour early. Today, we happen to have candy corn in the house, which will probably be consumed in mass quantities (it is fat free, after all) while I watch grown-up television and ignore the clutter, gleefully imagining the look of utter disdain I would receive if aforementioned husband was home.

Saturdays in our house are very exciting anyway, because I wash all the sheets and pillows on Saturday mornings in Tide with Downy (is there a better scent anywhere?) and freshen the beds. It's the high water mark of our week! I sometimes even wash husband's sheets, if he's been in town for a few days as though offering an olive branch if I am feeling magnanimous.....the kids love Clean Sheet Saturdays nearly as much as they love fingerpainting with foreign substances on the carpet. Win-win all around!

On this particular Saturday, I am a bit tired as it was an exceptionally glorious October day and we spent most of it at a great farm festival. The kids participated in a corn husking contest, made their own cider, stuffed a scarecrow, cried because I refused to spend $15 on pony rides, pet a horse and a cow, climbed on ancient tractors and ran helter-skelter through a hay maze. I also snuck in some contraband peanut butter sandwiches, which we ate in an open field listening to chickens and watching planes land at the tiny Plum Island airport. We saw many friends and no enemies, which made everything perfect, at least for a couple of hours.

I'll probably also spend a few minutes imagining a different life, of course - one with no stress and all that. Before I turn in (late, because I am going through an insomnia phase), I'll check the precious boys and take one last whiff of their cute preschoolerness before reading until my body gives out. I'll hope that maybe a friend will call, but at the same time be glad if no one does. Another great Saturday night in the life of the lawless.