as if

As if things aren't chaotic enough around here now that Oona no longer naps. My apologies for not being in touch with any friends lately, I've been carving out a pathetically small amount of 'me time' by driving a couple blocks until Oona falls asleep and then sitting in the car with her for an hour. Such is my sad existence. I can't take her out of the car because she'll wake up. I can't talk or move or listen to the radio because she'll wake up, so I sit and read in the cold until it becomes unbearable and then run the car to heat things up enough that Oona and I won't get hypothermia sitting in the car. The upside of global warming is that the past week has been relatively mild for January in PIttsburgh. It's so sad. I'm loathe to admit that I do this but Oona needs her sleep and it's the only way she will catch 45 minutes to an hour nap. what's a Mom to do? But this sucky napping arrangement is nothing compared to huge imminent nightmare that the teachers in Pittsburgh's public schools will probably go on strike within the next few days. Ughhh! I fully support the teachers but the idea of entertaining both kids in these cold winter months when they can't cut loose in a park outside? Total nightmare. And the time spent striking will be tacked on to the end of the school year since the children by law have to be in school a certain number of days, and that is hard for them being in school when it's hot (there's no AC) and sunny and they'd probably rather be doing anything but learning in an old stuffy building. But I am very fortunate that I'm not a working parent who depends on their children being in school, what are they going to do for daycare? And a lot of the parents at Owen's school are poor so it's not like they've got disposable income to cover an extra week of daycare. Let's cross our fingers that both sides can come to an agreement and avert this strike.