Me And My Sister, And The Ogre Of Life

When we were kids my sister and I fantasized about being scullery maids in the basements of the ogres castle in the woods, as we helped with the wash and the dishes. It was our fantasy, it got us through our chores. Now, much older, with children under foot, these are still the chores that face me every day. The 'ogre' is life. My sister has her own chores to do. We laugh, if only all these chores would go away.

A fortunate event, my husband got an unexpected bonus. After six months I invited my sister to go with me on a cruise. No cooking, no cleaning, no chores. Boring. Six days on a boat, no husband, no children. Boring.

We live our separate lives, chained to our chores, in the castle basement our ogres saw fit to place us. Day in and day out, not a day of rest. If perhaps, another opportunity arose, we would not elect to leave our chores behind, our children to be cared for by their fathers, what we the mothers are there for.

Our ogres are there to keep us sane.