Journal, Day 93

The benefactor and younger children returned home after a long day of mental exertion, only to find the house in utter disarray.  The elder children, in their haste to depart in the morning, overlooked the importance of preserving electricity, leaving four lamps blazing, perhaps in case they feared the sun might die when they were out of the house. A fan was left churning, twirling the empty air for nobody. Lastly, the canine did not greet them as usual, her barking distant and muffled, finally found accidentally locked in the elder female’s room for almost 9 hours. After her release, she sat quiet for hours, mulling over her captivity.
 
Preparing the evening feast, the benefactor received communication that the elder male had wrongly assumed he was an independent adult, and had made a unilateral decision to attend supper at another child's home without consulting her first. He responded with flippant justification, but the benefactor made it clear that his decision was not favorable, and gave him a specific timeline for returning before consequences were issued. As usual, he did not meet his deadline, and will suffer 14 days of nonstop family interaction at home.
 
Next morning, the younger children rose like the walking dead. The youngest female was adamant that she did not have the uniform shirt required, despite the benefactor recently giving her said shirts in a pile of fresh laundry. She scoffed the benefactor, until opening her drawer to discover the exact shirts in question, at which point she issued an immediate apology.
 
The younger male and female sat on the settee after breakfast, debating the merits of doing their instructional practice directly after their school day ended versus later in the evening. As the younger male put it eloquently: “You want to do it right after school. I didn’t do that last year, and I was a hot mess.” Sage advice from the mouth of babes.
 
In the evening, the children were charged with showering as the benefactor prepared their meal. The benefactor grew suspicious when the youngest female’s shower lasted approximately 3.7 minutes, even though she insisted she had properly bathed. However, the top of her hair remained dry and warranted her returning to the water to actually use soap. After cleansing, the males got into a bickering argument about where the younger male should perform his evening musical practice, as the elder male became vexed when the younger male initiated in the common area while the elder male watched the media box. The benefactor decided to let them tease out their own disagreement, the younger male eventually moving upstairs, heavily sulking. He soon returned downstairs, curling into a ball on the couch, hugging his canine companion for comfort.
 
All was quiet until the youngest female woke from a fright late in the evening, and attempted to stumble down the shadowy staircase in search of something imaginary. Thankfully the benefactor heard her cries and could redirect her back to her bed to sleep. Of course, the benefactor then struggled with wakefulness, laying wide eyed and wondering until eventually slipping into repose in the wee hours of the morning.

Bleary eyed, the benefactor woke the next morning to prepare breakfast. The usual 'I don't want breakfast dance' she engaged with the younger male commenced. He eventually capitulated and agreed to a bowl of dried rice cereal. After giving it him, the benefactor watched as he did everything but eat: picking up the mutt, wandering outside, pretending to gather things he wasn't really getting upstairs. As they prepared to leave, his bowl remained full, and the benefactor insisted on some ingestion. He bulked, and argued, eventually agreeing to eat half, while in between bites he outlined his plan to become a constitutional lawyer and eventual Supreme Court justice. God help us all.