Day Two. I was still struggling on Monday from Sunday’s busy day, but I was determined to have a good start to the week. We did start very productively after all. We got home after school and Bailey wanted to play outside for a bit. Perfect, she could play and I could plant the sunflowers we got from the store.

I picked a good spot right outside my office window, and I got to work creating the new garden bed. I was halfway through when I realized this was the spot the previous owners chose to pile all the dog shit and my hands were thoroughly coated in what I knew wasn’t entirely dirt. I could give up or I could keep going…well it should be well fertilized and the damage was done, so I finished planting.

I wanted a few more sunflowers in the ground so I chose a second spot at the back of the yard. Lightning can’t strike twice, right? I was relieved when this new spot didn’t have the same odor and I continued my work. As I was digging, I noticed something was already in the ground. I didn’t think much of it and kept going. After the third strange mass, it dawned on me that there were spring bulbs planted back there. Awesome, right? Wrong again, these were daffodil bulbs and I just happen to be adequately allergic to daffodil bulbs. By the time I finished one fence section of sunflowers, my arms and neck felt like they were on fire (which I couldn’t scratch) and I was done. Bailey was demanding to be let in the house anyway as she was “going to make her own supper”.

She was right, it was time for dinner. There wasn’t enough soap in the house to rid my nose of the smell on my hands. I’m pretty sure I was imagining it by the end of the scrubbing, but I made dinner and all I could think was “I’m serving dog shit for dinner”, all while enduring the allergic reaction that didn’t seem to be fading.

The night before, Bailey had asked for hamburgers and french fries, so I was excited to make something she was actually going to eat. That was until I told her I was making her request and she promptly threw a fit and demanded her own dinner. Between the tiredness, the dog shit garden, the allergic reaction and now the reoccurring dinner tantrum, I was done. She ate the burger and fries and she liked it!