Superglued

They Superglued the sofa. I just laughed out loud again, hearing that. They SUPERGLUED the sofa. And at first I was quite upset, trying to think of how to have it fixed. It's a fairly new sofa after all. There was the threatening that they would be paying for it, the ranting that we apparently can't have anything new, can't keep anything nice. But as I have lived with it for another couple of days, I kind of want to keep it. I kind of like it. It is almost like a family artifact, evidence showing the beginnings of their beginning as a brother/sister team.

How did this happen you might ask? Well, I came home from work on a Thursday thoroughly exhausted after a full day of scoring state tests, and then a full afternoon/evening of meetings for our union contract negotiations. I was in a good mood, as all had gone well, but nonetheless I was tired. Tim had an afterschool doctor's appointment, so he had only been home with the kids for a couple of hours. Yes, there had been a gap of about an hour when the kids were home alone. Dev is 15, Gwynn 12. This is not a problem, it is simply a statement of the situation. After I got home, we all reconnected, then the fun of a typical schoolyear evening began. There were homework arguments to be had, there was dinner to be cleaned up. Lunches needed to be made, showers and next day preperations had to be taken care of. Finally, I sat down with Tim, on the couch, to watch some TV together, and I felt something hard on the cushion. I examined a bit closer to discover a certain tear, another probable hole, and tell tale dog hair.

Devin took the brunt of it at first, since I discovered it after Gwynn was already in bed. He admitted to letting the dog on the sofa, and admitted to the ingenious idea of Superglueing. Still, in all of my ranting, and questioning, he never once mentioned his sister. In fact it wasn't until a couple of days later that she and I were in the living room and I asked her about it. She had full knowledge of what happened, and admitted to being a part of it.

I guess that is what makes me, almost, like the Superglued spot. What makes me choose to switch the center cushion for the one on the end. What makes me flip it over and tuck it in place. They really do love each other, or at least have a bond enough to not throw each other under the bus. Or, perhaps they both just think I am truly as exhaustedly clueless as I truly am, and I really won't notice a surprising number of things. Either way, a friend recently asked what the going rate for a sitter is. I suppose I have a clearer answer, now. I'd say it is somewhere between $5 and $10 dollars an hours, or whatever it costs to reupholster a sofa cushion. You make the choice.