4 minute read
The chaotic kitchen table
kids with special needs achieve.
In the current climate, there’s just enough space at the six-person table for three people to sit. Luckily, only two kids are allowed to eat at a time since they distract each other. The adults usually flee into the living room and eat on the sofa, anything to get a quiet moment and avoid witnessing the mayhem that’s occurring at the table. (You can judge me all you want, but I have continuously reminded the same child to wipe their face and chew with their mouth closed for the past 14 years.)
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This is not how I grew up. Somehow, my mother sat all eight of us kids at a tidy table and we actually had conversations. As a child, I looked forward to dinner. As an adult, the only thing I like about the third meal of the day is that it’s just an hour from bed time.
I will eventually break down and clean up the table, probably tomorrow after the newspaper deadline is over. While I’m overwhelmed with summer break and my husband working Skagway seasonal hours, part of me is being passive aggressive. I am the only one who organizes the table but I sure as hell don’t contribute much to the mess.
-A missing dog was reunited with its owner.
-EMS responded to a medical emergency.
-A lost iPhone was reunited with its owner.
-Dispatch assisted with testing 911 auto-dialer devices.
-Police assisted with a Fish & Game bear seal.
May 9
-Dispatch received reports of a bear spotted near Reid Falls.
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport.
-EMS responded to a medical emergency.
-Dispatch received a report of illegal dumping.
May 10
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the Airport.
-EMS responded to a medical emergency.
-Lost medication was returned to its owner.
May 11
-EMS responded to a medical emergency.
-EMS assisted with a scheduled Medevac.
-Police responded to a call of a suspicious person.
-Dispatch contacted the on duty provider.
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport.
May 12
-Dispatch received a report of rocks on the Klondike Highway. DOT cleared without issue.
May 13
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport.
-Police personnel responded to a call about someone driving down the foot path toward Yakutania Point.
-Police responded to a late night report of machinery being operated.
-Police and fire personnel were able to locate and silence a “mystery alarm” that had been waking residents on Fifth Avenue.
May 14
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport.
-Dispatch contacted the on duty provider twice.
Once the table is again orderly, albeit temporarily, I’ll replace the hand towels that drape across each seat, protecting the upholstery from multi-colored slime, spaghetti sauce and all things chocolate.
This dining room set is a hasty second-hand purchase procured after we moved to Alaska from the Lower 48. We left behind a beautiful, gleaming, dark-wood table with wooden benches, made in India. It’s probably for the best. Our youngest, who we adopted after the move, likes to scribble so hard on paper he
Coming soon to cruise passengers and stores in Skagway.
inadvertently leaves scratches on the tabletop.
Everyone tells us to savor these moments. That one day we’ll miss the complaining about what’s for dinner, the constant talk of poop and private parts, the childish imprints on the table. I call bullshit. Years from now, I’ll sit at a clean, new table, savoring an entree with lots of green in it – in peace. My food will still be warm as I eat it, and if I miss my kids, I know how to hop on a plane or initiate a FaceTime.
-Police responded to a non-injury vehicle collision.
-Fire personnel responded to an automated EWS Fire Alarm.
May 15
-Fire personnel responded to an automated EWS Fire Alarm.
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport.
-Two lost passports were reunited with their owners.
-Police responded to a report of a stolen backpack –it was later located.
-EMS personnel responded to a medical emergency.
-EMS personnel assisted with a scheduled medevac.
-Police responded to a report of possible domestic violence.
May 16
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport.
-Construction blasting occurred on the Klondike Highway.
-A lost credit card was reunited with its owner.
-Dispatch assisted Royal Canadian Mounted Police in an investigation.
-Police responded to a report of a possible hit and run.
May 17
-Police responded to a report of illegal camping.
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport.
-Dispatch received multiple reports of drones flying above town.
-A lost phone was reunited with its owner.
-EMS personnel to a medical emergency.
-Dispatch received a report of reckless driving.
-Fire personnel responded to an automated EWS Fire Alarm.
May 18
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport.
-Dyea Road was closed overnight for construction.
-Fire personnel responded to an automated EWS Fire Alarm.
-Emergency 911 lines were down for periods of the day due to ship interference.
-Dispatch contacted the on duty provider.
May 19
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport.
-Police assisted with a vehicle lockout.
-EMS assisted with two scheduled medevacs.
-A lost backpack was reunited with its owner.
-Dispatch contacted the on duty provider.
May 20
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport.
-Dispatch contacted the on duty provider twice.
-Police responded to a report of a group of people fighting – officers were unable to locate.
May 21
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport. -EMS responded to a medical emergency.
-Fire personnel responded to two different automated EWS Fire Alarms.
-Police responded to a report of a vehicle with slashed tires.
-Dispatch received a report of a suspicious person digging through the trash.
-Dispatch contacted the on duty provider.
May 22
-DOT reported they are hazing birds at the airport. -A lost dog was reported and later reunited with its owner.
-A separate incident of a lost dog was also reported and later reunited with the owner.
-Police assisted in reuniting a young boy with his family, whom he was separated with while hiking on Lower Dewey Trail.
-Dispatch contacted the on duty provider.
-Police personnel responded to a late night report of an open door at a downtown business.
-Blake Owen Perry, 40, of Skagway, was arrested for Violating the Conditions of his release.
