It Never Rhines but It Pours by Erin Evans Page B

the bathroom and help them on the toilet every twenty minutes. Sure, they’re potty trained, and sure, it’s saving diaper money, but it’s very time consuming. I would just smile and say “I’m not going to rush her into something she’s not ready for,” when people asked me why Cassidy was still in diapers. Inwardly, I would seethe with jealousy. Outwardly, accepting motherly calm.
    Megan finally woke up and staggered out of her room. “Where’s Cassie?” she asked.
    “We’re in here!” I called, scooping Cassidy off the changing table and heading for the kitchen. “What do you want for breakfast?”
    Megan sat down at the table and Cassidy climbed up into her booster seat. They looked at each other for a minute. “Oatmeal!” Megan said.
    “Pancakes!” Cassie cried.
    “No, oatmeal!” Megan insisted.
    “Me want pancakes!”
    “Oatmeal!”
    I watched them for a moment. Here was a perfect opportunity to teach them about putting others first. About sacrificing what you wanted for the good of your sister. About the true meaning of love. “You can each have something different,” I said. Ok. So that’s not the true meaning of love. I’ll get around to teaching them that.
    Mark had headed off for work and I was enjoying my morning cup of coffee when my phone rang. It was my mom.
    “Hey, sweetie!” she greeted me. “How’s your day going? How are my little angels?”
    One little angel poked the other one, who then retaliated with a wild swing that knocked over both cups of juice. “Hold on, Mom,” I said.
    I placed one hand over the mouthpiece so that Mom couldn’t hear me yelling at the little angels. “Megan! Cassidy! You cut that out right now! Look at that mess! No more juice today! Only water!”
    I grabbed up a wad of paper towels and sopped up the mess. It had run down through the cracks in the table top and pooled on the floor. I would have to pull out the Swiffer mop to get the stickiness off the tile.
    “Water?” Megan wailed, about twenty seconds late in her complaint.
    “Water,” I mouthed at her, taking my hand off the phone. “You still there, Mom?”
    “What’s going on?” she asked.
    “Nothing,” I said innocently. “Why?”
    “I heard yelling.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes, really. Is everything ok?”
    “It’s fine. We’re fine. The girls were just running off to play.” I shooed them away with my hand while giving them the evil eye so that they would know I was still upset about the spilled juice fight.
    “Are you coming over today?” my mom asked.
    I was puzzled. I didn’t mind coming over, but I hadn’t been planning on it. “Today?”
    “Yes, today! I told you!”
    “Told me what?”
    “That you needed to come over today!”
    “Why?”
    “What do you mean, why?”
    I shook my head in exasperation. Sometimes conversations with my mother could be a little vague and confusing. “Why do I need to come over?” I asked again.
    “Because it’s the right thing to do!” she said indignantly.
    “Why?” I insisted. Eventually she might tell me what it was that she had obviously forgotten to tell me.
    “That’s what families do, Piper,” she explained, “They’re there for each other.”
    “Mom,” I said. “I have no clue what you are talking about. Who do I need to be there for?” I had a thought, “Is Karen in town?” That would be great! Karen was my older sister, living out in California. I hadn’t seen her in months. It would be great to catch up!
    “No, silly. I told you all about it, just last week!”
    “No, Mom,” I said. “You didn’t. But you can tell me now …”
    “I did so tell you! I remember talking to you about it.”
    “About what?”
    “We were talking about diapers and I said that I might need to buy some adult ones.”
    Huh? Adult diapers? My mom was getting up there, but she wasn’t that old! In fact, if I looked as good as she did at her age I would be thrilled! I was hoping that I had her aging genes and would still