And after all that, it promptly froze, just as I was publishing this stupid thing.
Fine. So be it. Windows 98 is no longer stable enough for web browsing.
And now off to what I was actually planning to write tonight...
Just a little peek into what our lives are like around here. Today was my parents' anniversary, so they spent the evening out on the town. This, of course, left me as oldest and thus in charge. Not a big deal, I've done it a zillion times before. But each time something new comes up, and tonight was no different. The youngest, Trevor, is not quite weaned yet, and this was the first time he'd been away from his mother for more than a few hours. I'm getting ahead of myself, though.
I was spending some time on my computer. I was actually being semi-productive, trying to get the Windows 98 third of my triple-boot setup to be something close to stable. Needing a break from such mindless and inane activity, I spent a couple of hours doing something even more mindless and inane: watching Mulan. Whenever both parents are gone for an extended period of time, the kids get to watch a movie. It keeps them busy, out of trouble, and whiles away a few hours.
After this was done, I proceeded to busy myself popping frozen pizzas in the oven, and setting the table with as few dishes that need to be washed as possible. This keeps the number of complaints concerning "Slave-driver Ardith" to a minimum. Then Nolan decided to do something characteristic, but not usually directed towards myself.
I'm not sure what brought the temper tantrum on; I think I told him he couldn't take something outside that he particularly wanted to take. At any rate, I dared to keep him from getting out the door with it, and he calmly contradicted me, and tried for the door again. When I stepped in front of it, he stood there and screamed at me. He has a very loud voice for one so young. As screaming at one's authorities is not allowed around here, I was forced to march him into an adjoining room with the paddle.
I'm always interested by how some kids scream only before they are spanked. Not during, or after, but before. I tapped him once or twice on his rear end, and he decided it would be the better part of valour to cooperate. It was the first time I'd actually taken the paddle to any of the kids. I've smacked them with my hand before, but nothing came up that was this serious. Nolan is definitely in a class apart, however. 15 minutes later, he was happily watching me take pizzas out of the oven. I don't think I'll ever understand him.
Anyhoo, nothing exciting happened for another few hours. Apparently I have now reached the point where I am deemed a fair divider of pizza. A milestone indeed. I managed to get just about all the programs and games I wanted reinstalled under 98. Of course, I had to test the DVD player along the way by playing the first ten minutes of the Fellowship of the Ring. Eventually, however, it sunk into my head that the baby had been crying downstairs for at least ten minutes. Coming down to investigate, I discovered Sharon kneeling in front of a chair, trying to convince him to come out from under it and stop crying. It was almost bedtime, and he'd realized he hadn't seem Mommy for quite some time.
Unfortunately for all concerned, 15-month old babies who can't talk yet do not react well to diplomacy. So, I took him upstairs, laid him on the double bed in my room, and waited for him to get tired of thrashing around. 20 minutes later, he was worn out enough to let me walk him around.
15-month old babies are also remarkably heavy. Heavy enough to wear one out after a further 20 minutes of walking around, playing peek-a-boo with the curtain, and sitting down for five seconds at a time until the kid decides he's bored again. But at least he was no longer crying constantly. I could have sworn he was about to drop off to sleep on six separate occaisions. Nope, he's just playing with my mind. Our parents got back at about 10pm, and I sat down to read and watch TV for the next couple of hours. Another successful baby-sitting job accomplished. Now if only I could convince my parents that this service is valuable enough to warrant some sort of material compensation.
Posted by Ardith at June 6, 2003 01:25 AM