Role Switch

Heidi flopped herself down the bed, absolutely exhausted and overcome with fatigue. Her husband followed, also very tired.

It had been a long day of chores and work for the both of them, all essential tasks to complete for their family.

“So tired,” Heidi moaned.

“I am, too,” Harlin added. “You’re lucky to get to stay home.”

“And what about you? Your whole day is absorbed in babies’ toys.”

That led the couple to a very heated debate on how each other’s job was filled with positives.

Finally, unable to take much more, Heidi groaned out, “What if we switched roles?” She had meant it as a joke, and a means to end the argument so she could go to sleep. But, Harlin took his wife’s words into consideration.

“We should!”

“Dear, I meant it as a joke,” Heidi reasoned.

“No, we should do it tomorrow. You can run my responsibilities at the shop, and I’ll do tomorrow’s housework.”

“Well, I suppose a day’s change wouldn’t hurt.”

It was settled, and the two ran each other through their next day’s tasks.

“Always wake up first in the morning, so that I can prepare breakfast for the critters needing to go out to work; that’s me tomorrow. The kids wake up shortly afterwards, so make sure there is plenty of stomach filling food. They can serve themselves a plate, but the babies need extra care. Obviously they don’t eat our food. After fixing everyone up with food, I usually have a big household chore. It’s to clean up the bathroom tomorrow; make sure you don’t overdo it on the clean spray. Give everything a good scrubbing, and hand wash the towels. Why, by then, it’s high time for lunch. There are breakfast leftovers, and perhaps a stew or something else. Then, the children usually have things to show me. Either that, or a quick academic lesson to them all. That includes a few alphabet lessons for the babies. Leave some time for yourself to relax, have a drink of tea, go out to the balcony for fresh air. Most of the time, I watch a good episode of television or scrub all the hand railings with clean spray. Then, you better start cooking dinner early. In between, the Tuxedo Cats are coming along to use the bathroom, including showers. You don’t have to pay much attention; they can take care of themselves. A baked squash takes so long to prepare, but carrot soup is always a quick one if you’re out of time. Just go easy on the seasoning. The children are all fixed up a plate. Then, you, I mean I, will come home. Dinner is served prettily. The girls always help me with after dishes, so a quick final walkthrough the kitchen is all that’s needed. Make sure the spoons are in their proper drawer, and the plates are stacked neatly. Then, that’s it. Think you can handle that?” Heidi puffed out in between breaths.

“Of course! Now for my day. I wake up with breakfast. Then, carefully drive myself down to the Toy Shop. Tomorrow’s work will require a pencil, so make sure you bring the one from our house. The country road is a little rickety, and no one wants a car accident. Drive carefully. The store is completely manned by one worker, and there’s usually dust settled after a night. Everything has to look in perfect condition, ready to get out the door to a new customer quickly. I make sure everything is spotless, and then move on to orders. This is usually a busy season, because of all the spring birthdays. Tomorrow, you’ll need to write out happy birthday in the prettiest handwriting on all the cards I set aside today in the store. Best writing is a must. Place them in matching boxes, and be sure to remember some recommended combinations. For instance, the pink cards are always paired with the pink laced boxes. You have to write the combination on the back of the card. Those are for show anyway; whenever someone needs a gift done, we use show combinations as a first look at their final product. You can come home for lunch afterwards, and then take a child or baby for control group testing. Ask them their opinion, and the absolute final results need to be organized at the store by the end of the day. Make sure everything is appealingly in order, and you can head back.”

The spouses each took in each other’s words, and fell asleep.

The next morning, Harlin made sure to wake up earlier than Heidi. After morning stretches and hygiene (including a thorough shower), he made his way to the kitchen, where he started preparing breakfast.

“Now, what is breakfast? How about tea and these biscuits and tarts I found,” he talked to himself.

He set the table with a chocolate tart for himself and a lemon for his wife. They each had a little green cup, with the pot of tea in the middle. Heidi came down soon after, impressed with her husband’s work.

“Wow, this is nice!” she said the moment Harlin poured them both a cup of warm tea.

They enjoyed the morning air together, with the kids sleeping soundly upstairs and in the living room. When they both finished eating, Heidi took a quick shower as Harlin washed the plates. “This is nice,” they both thought.

The kids roused up soon with the clatter of plates and the patter of the shower. Greeting Heidi and Harlin promptly and appropriately, they all fixed themselves up a donut or tart for breakfast. The parents explained their role switch for the day with the children, who were all interested to see how things turned out.

Heidi said goodbye, and got in the car to go to work. “This drive is stunning!” she remarked. Meanwhile, Harlin was in the bathroom giving everything a thorough cleansing with a towel and all natural clean spray formula after having made sure the babies had breakfast.

In his mind, he thought that it was harder than he had expected. His wife made it look easy to keep the house always so in order and clean.

Heidi arrived soon after with bold confidence. “I can do cleaning,” she told herself. One by one, Heidi inspected each toy for dust, grime, or anything out of place before organizing them pleasantly on the shelves. Then, she did the same for the rest of the store, including the play corner. Halfway through, she couldn’t help but realize that it was awfully quiet. She missed the sound of children talking, babies giggling, the phone ringing, and the joys of home life. But, she pushed it aside to move onto the cards. Carefully, she used the yellow pencil she had to write out happy birthday.

Then, Heidi spent the rest of the afternoon trying to work out the best combinations. “Blue box with yellow greeting card or green?” she asked herself. But, in the end, Heidi figured it all out. Laid out at the store were the combinations to show her control group afterwards.

Deciding it was time for lunch, Heidi drove back home.

Harlin, so accustomed to set lunch times, knew that the time of lunch was approaching soon and that he had to start preparing. With one final look at his clean bathroom, he went down the stairs. He contemplated between various options, until Heidi’s instructions from last night rang in his head. “A baked squash takes so long to prepare, but carrot soup is always a quick one if you’re out of time,” she had said. Harlin was well aware that cleaning the bathroom and towels had taken him a while; he didn’t have much free time so he decided to go with a quick carrot stew. Baked squash could be saved for later. Chopping away, Harlin boiled up a bit of water. Then, he proceeded with very liberal pepper seasoning. “I always like the kick,” he defended when Skip questioned why the stew tasted different today. The children still gobbled it up and helped to set the table for their returning mother.

Heidi came into the mood cheerier as ever. “It smells so good,” she complimented her husband, who was waiting in the dining room. “Mmm, did you add extra seasoning?” Heidi suspected only to have her suspicions confirmed. The meal was delightful, and the weather through the dining room window was all sunny and warm.

Heidi couldn’t stay long, though, as she had plenty of work to wrap up back at the shop. “I’ll need some volunteers,” she chimed. “A baby and one of the children.” Bell volunteered with her baby sister Honey, and so the three drove off. Bell and Honey’s eyes glowed at the pretty arrangement of boxes and cards Heidi had already set aside before lunch.

“The color combination,” Bell praised. Honey, not as good with her words, simply said, “Ooo.”

“Now, I need you all to give me your opinion on each of them,” Heidi started off. “Take your time.”

As work was being done in the store, so was it at home. Harlin was busy making rounds amongst the children and babies, checking in on their academic work.

“So what have you been studying, Skip?”

“Practicing equations inside our math notebook,” Skip answered as his father read through the book.

The children were all very productive in their different fields. Karen had been reading through a book, while her brother was also dabbling in basic algebra. The babies were no exception. To Harlin’s pleasure, all of them had learned the first third of the alphabet. Impressively, they didn’t stutter or pause one bit as they flipped through their alphabet book.

The afternoon was passing, so the Tuxedo Cats started coming in.

“Hi, Mr. Hopscotch,” the daughters would greet. The cats showered quickly, and Harlin didn’t mind one bit that they had to borrow the bathroom. Their house didn’t have the proper piping or space for a big bathroom, and Heidi had already rushed to offer the family visits to their bathroom.

Back at the shop, the girls had gone through the combinations one by one with a lack of criticism. The daughters were both marvelously amazed with their mother’s skills. The way she could match a toy with the mood of any color so easily. How it all came naturally to her that the font of a card should match with the details of a box. Her husband had always told her, “Presentation is key to making any product look appealing!”

With the work done, Heidi made one last walkthrough around the store before deciding that it would be okay to leave early today. Honey, having been chided not to mess up the placement of anything in the store, did not mess up anything. The mother and daughters got back into the car and headed for the exact same route they had taken to get here.

Bell strapped her baby sister safely in with the blue seat belt, and then requested, “Oh, please, mother, may I sit in the front? I’m so responsible.” Her mother, always nice, approved with Bell hopping into the front moments later.

Harlin was already working away at his baked squash tonight. Baked squash was a long time country dish. It was enjoyed by everyone, but always took lots of preparation no matter each household’s variation. The squash had to be carved away from its innards, leaving a mere outward skin still thick with meat.

That skin was first steamed off for a soft texture, before being baked at the perfect temperature for the perfect amount of time.

Then, a stuffing of flour and carrot soup was stuffed inside. Overall, the recipe was one that required competence of the entire process and all its finite details. When Heidi saw the sight of the baked squash, she praised it extensively.

“Wow! This is amazing!” Heidi said with a smile coming on Harlin’s face.

“Dig in!” he responded.

The rest of the evening passed with relative ease. The kids dug into portions of baked squash and a side of very filling boiled flour. Bell and Bellia made sure to clear the dishes as the rest of the kids and babies showered. Beforelong, Harlin made one look at the kitchen for the little details (spoons here, teapot there, etc…).

Heidi and Harlin finally came into bed together, exhausted but satisfied with themselves for pulling it off.

“So how was it?” Heidi kicked off.

“It was wonderful, but I did miss the old country drives!” Harlin commented.

“They were beautiful, but I missed the children,” Heidi added.

“Yes, it was a great experience getting to spend time with all of them.”

The two finally agreed that each of their roles’ had its own merits and sacrifices, and that they would stick to their own jobs for always.