Exceptional On Tuesday, I felt Too old for all this! by Wendy G

Oh no, I just found a small piece of pottery in my car! Very small, I don’t think it will hold anything, but it’s pretty.  Glazed, shades of blue. Which of the girls does it belong to? Tuesday begins with the two-year-old arriving, as normal. She’s vocal enough now to ask to go on our weekly bus ride to the café. That’s the treat – the bus ride! It’s the only time any of us ever catches a bus. Immediately please, if not sooner! However ... we miss the first two buses, as she's too busy playing with Sunny, the dog. We get back in time for a short play, then a quick lunch, and her nap. Before too long, I must leave her with my husband for the last 45 minutes until her mother can pick her up, while I drive nearly half an hour to pick up her big sister, Cara, from school. “Nan, stay!” the little one begs. I will see her later, can’t stay. Of course, it’s raining. I don’t get to the school early enough, so have to walk a greater distance from where I park. But I always anticipate the happy and excited look on Cara’s face when she sees me, so I hurry, and then wait outside the school in the rain till she appears, the last one from her class. Home to her place for an afternoon snack, homework, change of clothes. Then it’s off to pottery. It’s always a bit of a rush. I teach her some more French while we drive. After taking her into the pottery centre, I drive back to the bus-stop (because it’s raining again) to pick up her eight-year-old cousin Elise, from her school bus, and take her to pottery too. This Tuesday, it's the last pottery class for the term. While I wait for the girls, I message my husband to feed Sunny at 6 pm, specifying what food, and how much to give him. I might be a bit late home. An hour and a half later, I help the girls carry their pottery to the car. Multiple trips. Decorated clay cookies, chocolate bars, an Easter rabbit – not quite dry because of the damp air. I receive instructions on how to mend the bunny if an ear should break or fall off. There are also large and small pots, all glazed, and fine-looking fish and seashell structures mounted on wood. These would need to lie down in the car, as they are fragile. I try to keep them in two separate sections so as not to mix up their pieces. At least it isn’t raining at this point. “Nan, please drive slowly – we don’t want the pottery to break!” I drive slowly. I’d promised them a McDonald’s meal to celebrate their achievements. A ten minute drive, and I go very slowly. It's raining again. When we arrive, I suddenly realise that Cara has left her umbrella at pottery. An expensive one. (Why does a seven-year-old need such an expensive one? I know my son, (her dad), will not be happy. We drive back to pottery, slowly of course, with the precious cargo. The place is locked up. Back to McDonald’s. Still driving slowly. I'm tired; the girls are excited and giggly. They can not be hurried. Cara has lost four teeth, Elise five. Elise tells Cara that the Tooth Fairy is her mother. Cara is shocked. I encourage both girls to "Keep the Magic going!" (I was put on the spot, trying to think quickly.) Elise remembers that there's a pottery class for adults starting at 6:30. I drive the girls home – slowly of course! – first to Elise’s place, where we make multiple trips from the car with her delicate pieces, then yet more slow driving to Cara’s place. I will then go back to the pottery centre to see if I can collect the umbrella. The opposite direction to my place. However, Cara’s other sister takes a small piece of Cara’s pottery. A fight breaks out as Cara snatches it back. Dad is cross. Cara gets into trouble for snatching. Tears. Another drama – one of the rabbit’s ears has broken. My son will fix it - I explain what to do. I need to get back to pottery before the adults’ class finishes and the centre is locked up again. The two-year-old starts crying because she has to go to bed and isn’t able to stay up to see Nanny. I have been with her most of the day. That doesn’t count. I flee. Back into the car. Discover to my dismay that Elise has left her school hat in the car. She has to be in full uniform tomorrow. Drive back to her home, return the hat. “Nan, I’ve got some of Cara’s pottery, and she’s got some of mine!” Elise calls. I moan inwardly, but smile (nicely, I hope) on the outside, “I think you girls can sort it out next time you see each other.” I flee. Drive back to pottery, not slowly, for the fourth time that day. My head is aching. Grab the offending umbrella. I head for home, too tired to drive an extra fifteen minutes back to Cara’s home. Hope it won’t rain before she needs her umbrella. I arrive home at 7:30, two hours after their pottery lesson finished. Sunny has not been fed. Grr! That was Tuesday. Today I was in their area, so I dropped the umbrella back. When I arrived home, I found a small piece of pottery in my car…. I think I am too old to be a Nanny! Recognized Author Notes Not their real names.

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