"Me" Time?

I'm feeling slightly ripped-off today.

I was looking forward to having the house completely to myself. I love those rare days when every other member of the family is away for the day. It's my idea of Heaven. I turn up the music and dance my way through the housework (and usually get a lot more done than on any other day). More importantly, when I'm done with cleaning I can relax and read a book - or spend an hour or three on the computer - knowing I won't be disturbed by anyone else.

Last week was a step in the right direction ... it was the first week of the new term at school, so the kids were out of the house all day, for 5 days in a row! The only person at home with me was the Caveman - which is a case of "situation normal", but I do get more done if he's gone as well. He doesn't interfere too much with my routine, but he gets in my way. It's surprising how much harder it can be to clean the house with even one extra person at home. Plus, he complains about the music I play (hey, we don't all want to rock out to "Bad to the Bone", while we're mopping).  Also, with him at home, there is more coffee and chat time - which means less housework done at the end of the day.

I got my hopes up when the Caveman was called up for two weeks of Jury Duty. He went along to the courthouse nearly every day last week, but didn't end up being selected so he was home by 10 am each day. This week, however, he has been selected for a jury - he was gone all day yesterday and all of today so far as well!

As it turns out though, there wasn't a lot of joy in this new development for me ... just as the Caveman made it onto a jury, two of the kids have come down with illnesses. My dreams of peace and quiet (and writing a blog about the joys of being home alone) have been crushed.  Instead, I'm looking after a teenager and pre-teen with nausea, headaches and the sniffles, as well as tripping over blankets and pillows in the lounge room (that's where the telly is so, naturally, that's where the kids have to be too).

The only advantage to all this is that, because I'm convinced they can't possibly do without their mum (whether they agree with that or not), I have the perfect excuse to abandon the housework for today and watch movies with them.

I think I can live with that.