A Day of Tide

Helen gingerly inched herself out of bed to the sound of crickets. She carefully slipped on her warm fuzzy slippers carefully to avoid waking her husband. Peaking at the clock her brother had given her, Helen tiptoed over to her sons' room and nudged them awake for their morning practice. Her fading blonde locks bounced just above her shoulders as she made her way to the kitchen. Just like every other weekday, Helen grabbed the Frosted Flakes from the bottom drawer, along with the milk from the fridge. While there she proceeded to grab the ham and cheese, which lay in the same place that it was yesterday. She quickly made two sandwiches from the last of the Wonder Bread and placed them in tupperware. In two other plastic boxes, she packed small carrot sticks and goldfish crackers for each of her kids. She proceeded to pack the lunches into lunchboxes and added a small juice box for each, just as her sons John and Ben walked through the door.  

Helen quickly ushered her kids into the Honda Odyssey. After dropping off her kids at the soccer field, she made a quick stop at the local Safeway. There she bought fruit, a loaf of bread, as well as tonight's dinner. She returned home just as her husband was leaving for work. After a quick kiss, she began her daily morning jog with the Max, the family's Golden Retriever. As she neared the halfway point of her exercise, she ran into a neighbor. They talked of yesterday's episode General Hospital, squealing at the ridiculous stories that would be on soon. At that, Helen hurried home to put away the groceries and catch up with her soap operas.  

As the show finished, Helen began her work around the house. She went straight to her sons' room and straightened out the sheets, picking up scattered clothing on her way out. Helen then made her way to the washing machine, grabbing the Tide detergent along the way. She quickly poured some into the machine and washed the families clothing including, John and Ben's soccer socks. As the machine rumbled away, Helen pulled out the vacuum before heading back into the living room. She proceeded to vacuum the whole house, stopping only to dust her bookshelf. Next, Helen went to the kitchen and washed some of the bowls left from this morning's breakfast. Helen then placed the laundry into the dryer, along with a sheet of Bounce freshener wipe, and settled down to read her book. After the laundry was folded, she drove across the block, where she joined her afternoon book club. Helen returned home excited to read the next chapter of her book. She decided to pull out the Singer Sewing Machine to knit her sons matching bright yellow turtlenecks for the upcoming  school play. 

Helen returned home from picking up her sons from their afternoon practice after school. She started dinner which was oven baked Lasagna. She also frequently scanned her two boys to help them on today's homework.  Her husband came home just as it finished and they all had a family dinner. After dinner, they settled down to watch "Celebrity Splash." Helen tucked her kids into bed and kissed both on the forehead before they drifted off into sleep. Only then was she able to take her shower, using plenty of Dove shampoo to relieve her tensions. She slowly relaxed into her bed next to her husband and peacefully went to sleep.