Starlings of the slipstream

Round 35: October 2041 (Spring)

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Carmody-Moretti 1 household profile

Kimberly Carmody is 70, Nick Moretti is 38, Sarah is 36, Thomas is 10, Ryan is 9, Catherine is 7 and Alex is 2. 

(Susannah is 31, Michael is 10, Jude is 9 and Zac is 7)

Narrated by Sarah Moretti

Our house is definitely a bit noisier now but we've adapted pretty well to having four kids.

Honestly, going from one to two was harder than going from three to four. Alex really only added a tiny bit more to the chaos around here!

It helps that Alex is as easy-going as Thomas, Ryan and Catherine are. If he was a fussy kid, we might feel differently. But he’s a good sleeper, he’s cheerful and he’s not too whiny (for a toddler, anyway). He’s such a joy, really.

For now, we've decided to stop at four but we haven’t ruled out a fifth. If it happens, it happens and we’d adapt once again and welcome it. We have a very good lifestyle right now and we’re reluctant to disrupt it, at least until Alex is off at school. 

One thing about having a big family that seems to happen a lot is that things get broken. Quickly. We bought a new TV recently and it was sparking out the back the next day.

Thankfully, Nick is kind of a handyman and he was able to sort it out after a few hours of work. 

I can’t think what the kids would have done to make that happen but that sort of thing does seem to occur a lot around here!

The thing is, apart from the occasional family movie night, none of us even really watch TV that often.

Over the past year or so, Thomas and Ryan have both turned into total bookworms. 

If ever we’re looking for one of them, they’re almost always holed up reading somewhere.

They’re only a year apart in age, so they can read the same books and then talk about them together later. They were already close but this has been a really nice way for them to bond further.

They do basically everything together. They each have their own friends but they all end up playing together. 

Michael and Jude are the most frequent visitors to our house. Jude was always going to be around a lot, seeing he’s Nick’s best friend’s son but the boys made friends with Michael at school.

I'm so glad they’re both such nice kids. They don’t even mind Catherine hanging out with them.

Catherine’s latest obsession is soccer. We bought her a net for the backyard and that was it. True love!

I actually really love it myself and I'm the one playing with her most often.

I love her energy but I kind of wish Thomas and Ryan’s bookworm tendencies would rub off on Catherine a little bit. 

We had a phone call from Catherine’s teacher, informing us that she hadn't turned in any of her homework for three weeks. It wasn't too hard for her or anything. She’d just rather play outside. 

Nick and I took turns standing over her until she caught up. 

It was not fun for her but hopefully, she’ll try a bit harder to stay on top of it in the future, so she doesn't need to worry about it again. 

Mama does most of the work with Alex during the week while Nick and I are at work and I'm very grateful for that.

She already did the whole potty training thing twice, with me and then Susannah, so I feel a little guilty but she says she doesn't mind.

She says she needs something to fill her days apart from her garden. She’s happy for that something to be taking care of Alex. 

Mama has seriously cut back the time she spends at the salon. Physically, it was getting too difficult for her to go in every day, so she doesn't go in as often these days.

She still owns the salon but has promoted Lucy to manager, who takes care of most of the day to day stuff. 

Mama drops in on Fridays to check in with Lucy and make sure everything is going smoothly.

She has a couple of clients who have been going to her for years as well and they tend to make their bookings on Fridays now, so she can still style them. 

She enjoys going in much more now that she only does it once a week. It just used to drain her energy before. 

Friday happens to be my day off now and it’s also been Nick’s day off for a few years. With Mum at the salon, it’s kind of nice to have the house to ourselves for a bit!

Mostly to ourselves, anyway. We still have Alex around, of course, so it’s not quite couple time. 

We’re lucky enough that Alex still loves his naps though and he goes down for a couple of hours a little after lunch. 

It’s not exactly a date but it’s a bit of time to ourselves in a quiet house. Even just that is appreciated!

We do need to make the time to go out on actual dates a bit more often though. Time at home is nice but time away would be better!

I have always wanted Susannah to find somebody who she could share her life with and I think she’s finally found it with Daniel.

They've been talking about it for a while and they've finally decided to move in together. That will be happening in the next couple of weeks. 

Of course, Mama immediately wanted to know when they’d be getting engaged. That came complete with a reminder that they've been together a year longer than Nick and I had been when we got married. 

I think they were both as diplomatic about that as they could be!

Susannah has been very gun-shy about relationships since things went pear-shaped with Sam, so I'm just glad she’s been able to move on at all.

Daniel is also awesome with Zac, which I know was the most important thing for Susannah. 

Daniel is really good to her and they appear to be very compatible and both want to head in the same direction. If Susannah’s happy, I’m happy and she seems to be very happy with Daniel.

Notes:

• Title is from Starlings of the Slipstream by Pavement.
• Yeah, I haven't ruled out #5 for Nick and Sarah! Alex's room is big enough to fit two kids, so if they ever both have the want, I'll let them. Right now, only Sarah is on board. She's 36 though, so her fertility would be declining. 
• Catherine is terrible about homework! I kept noticing that Thomas and Ryan were rolling wants to do homework every morning. That want only appears when there's an incomplete homework booklet on the lot - it doesn't matter whose booklet it is, any kid or teen can roll the want. So I checked all the kids' desks (I use MogHughson's Desk Locator, so theoretically, they should each be putting their homework there) and no homework. A few days later I happened to have the camera out the front of the house and noticed a pile of Catherine's homework three booklets high!
• Thanks to everyone at N99 who helped me nut out what to do with Kimberly and her salon! I knew that at 70, she was getting a little old to keep doing it but selling it back to the community would mean Lucy would lose her job. I’d like her to own it, eventually, but she really doesn’t have the money for it right now. So Kimberly is now the owner/once-a-week manager and Lucy gets some more cash in her pocket every week. :)
• I had to go back and check what I'd said about Susannah and Daniel before when I wrote this. It was so long ago that I couldn't remember if I'd said they'd already moved in together or not! They'd only been considering it though, so let's say they're finally going ahead with it this month. I think I'm due to play them in either November or December 2041, so not too far away. 
• Kimberly has the want for a relative to get engaged, a relative to get married and to get another grandchild. Susannah is her only relative who is old enough to do the first two and I guess she figures her chances for another grandkid are better with her as well. She's not too subtle.