An Awful Afternoon
Sometimes I feel that being the mother of three small children is like running a large circus(马戏团). One afternoon last week, my three sons were playing peacefully in the backyard, throwing the ball from one to the other. I jumped at the chance to talk to one of my friends on the phone, but before I got to the phone, I could tell that the boys had begun to quarrel with each other over something. I rushed out to make peace, but before I got there, Charles had begun to fight over this. Even David, the oldest boy, who won’t usually fight with anybody over anything, was involved. First, I made them stop fighting, and then I examined Mark’s eye. I decided that it wasn’t going to develop into a black eye, but I felt that they should suffer at least a little for what they had done. "I’m going to speak to your father about these when he comes home tonight," I said. "He and I will think of how to punish you. " Things were pretty quiet after that for about half an hour, and then Charles broke a glass in the kitchensink, and at almost the same moment, Mark fell out of the apple tree. I suppose I will be able to laugh at all these things someday. In the meantime, I just pray to heaven for patience.

An Awful AfternoonThe mother was about to call her friend when the three boys started argue with each other about something in the backyard.（）