Mom's Club

Chapter One

Nearly every single night was the exact same for Alyssa Halloway. At approximately six PM she would begin cooking dinner for her small family of three with the intentions of eating around six thirty. Nearly every single night Alyssa's eye would catch the clock on the oven as she bent to check the chicken, the biscuits, the garlic bread, or whatever other item might be baking that particular evening. And nearly every single night she was astonished to find it was nearing seven PM. Despite her best efforts she always just seemed to be late, always just one step behind. By quarter to eight she was washing up the dishes she hadn't gotten to while cooking and cleaning up the scraps of food her two year old had thrown on the floor--despite her demands and pleads to keep his food on his plate.

After that she would sweep the floor and try to guide her son to the garbage can with the dustpan before he could tip it all over the floor. Of course, if she brought even a finger to the dustpan, Logan would stomp his fat little feet on the floor and scream out to his mommy, "Logan do!" because how dare she attempt to squander his independence. She would then either sigh and retreat by allowing him to dump majority of the dirt back onto the floor, or she would insist he let mommy help--in which case he would run screaming to the living room. After quickly dumping the dirt into the garbage can, she'd follow him in there and grab the fabric bins he'd pulled from the nine cube organizer while she'd been cooking dinner, and say, "Come here Logan. Help mommy clean up your toys."

By this point Logan was leaning against the couch, engrossed in whatever TV program was on and would just briefly flicker his eyes to her and say, "No."

"Yes," Alyssa would insist.

"No," Logan would repeat.

"Aiden," Alyssa would finally say, frustrated with her husband who, this whole time, had been laying on the couch watching random videos on his phone, "will you shut the TV off so he will come help me?" To be quite honest, Alyssa had never understood why Aiden felt the need to have the TV on if he was just going to play on his phone.

Aiden would do as he was asked without saying a word to Alyssa and then he would address Logan. "You need to go help mommy."

Logan would cry "want it," which was his way of saying he didn't want to, but he would say it as he ran over and began picking up balls and building blocks, dumping them into the correct bins.

"Good job Logan. You're such a big help," Alyssa always tried to encourage his good behavior.

By eight o'clock, with all the toys in their proper bins or stacked neatly on the shelves of the organizer, Alyssa would stand, grab the shorts and socks Logan had managed to kick off at some point in the day, and say, "Okay, baby, it's time for a bath. Go give daddy hugs and kisses nu-night."

Logan would run across the living room and expertly climb up the couch onto Aiden's bare belly and wrap his little arms around his daddy and rest his head on his shoulder. Half a second later he'd pop his head up and climb down. "Night buddy. I love you," Aiden would say.

Logan would run back towards Alyssa and Aiden would say louder, "Love you Logan."

"Love you," Logan would say back in his small little voice.

Alyssa would guide Logan down their small hallway into the only bathroom in their house. She'd turn the knob in the shower and a moment later she'd hear the water making its way through the old pipes. The water always took forever to warm up enough, even for Logan's baths, despite the fact that his baths were just a tad warmer than lukewarm. It took even longer for Alyssa and Aiden who liked their water borderline scalding. While letting the water take its time to get to the right temperature Alyssa would shed what clothes remained on her little boy and grab his toothbrush. "Let's brush your teeth," she'd say.