A Hard Hitting Journalist

In Journalism school they teach you a lot of things. Things like, if your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.. don't be afraid to ask the tough question, etc. You know, hard hitting stuff. What they don't teach you or prepare you for is exactly what's happened to me over the past two days. I'm doing some freelance writing for a new weekly newspaper here in town. I'm currently writing about a construction project gone bad. I'm getting close to my deadline and I need to talk to people now if not sooner. So, I absolutely had to make a phone call to the construction company late this afternoon.. I needed to get to the bottom of it. The only problem.. Presley was screaming because she was starving.. and Piper and Brooks were acting nuts-o because they refused to nap. So as I'm calling the project manager, I am warming up baby food for Presley. I clearly didn't want him to hear the microwave beeping so every time it would get close, I would run downstairs... wait for it to beep, then come back up to stir and reheat. Fortunately I had a microphone attached to the phone so I didn't have to write anything down (a huge infraction in the journalism world.. I'm sure feeding your child baby food during a tough interview would've also made the list but I don't think someone could've ever imagined that happening). Once the food was warmed up, I was feeding Presley sweet potatoes and green beans drilling this guy about why his project was so screwed up. I was thinking the entire time.. oh, if he only knew. When he was about to 'buckle' under intense questioning (ok, a bit dramatic.. but it was getting good).. Brooks comes running into the kitchen whining about something. Quickly, I handed him a bag of chips (something I NEVER DO), gave him the 'mean mommy' face to quiet down.. and shooed him out of the kitchen. If that wasn't bad enough, yesterday I had to call the Mayor to interview him for the same story.. never thinking he would actually take my call. I had Piper (she's four) watching Presley (she's seven months) while Brooks (he's two) was upstairs napping. About two minutes into the interview Brooks wakes up and starts screaming bloody murder while the Mayor is expressing extreme frustration with the project. I was thinking, ok.. what is going on up there.. his hand is getting cut off.. his head is stuck in the rails of his bed.. someone is climbing up a ladder to his room attempting to break-in and kidnap him.. meanwhile I'm on the phone interviewing the Mayor about a roundabout project. Thank you sweet baby Jesus for Piper. She goes upstairs.. takes care of the situation with Brooks (fortunately, nothing traumatic was happening to him and I still don't know why he was screaming).. helps him down the stairs.. and quietly goes back into the room with Presley to continue watching her. Amazing. Simply amazing. She wins babysitter of the year award at the ripe old age of four. Of all the times I imagined being a journalist in college, this was never part the dream. I never once aspired to be a no-nonsense reporter who feeds her baby homemade organic sweet potatoes and green beans during tough interviews. I have another interview tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. (random time, I realize.. but that's the only time it would work for him). I'm sure Presley will right there with me.. this time she'll have bananas and applesauce... and the kids might just have chips for breakfast.