Here are some snippets of my day yesterday:
I spent the morning cramming bits of work between phone calls that kept coming in then had a really good talk with April (involving crossing a few things off our list - yeah!!!). Then I spent 4 hours in back-to-back doctor appointments with Eliza (She's fine - we just wanted to get a few things checked out before we switch insurance and have to switch doctors. For one thing, she has these big bumps on her feet that hurt and rub against her shoes - turns out they're extra little bones that should probably be removed at some point but nice to know they're fine for now - just need to get some little pads to help ease the pain...).
As we left the last doctor's office and got a late lunch (we were both starving and Eliza needed a little TLC), Isaac called to ask where his uniform was - he had a cross country track meet right after school and had forgotten to put his uniform shirt in the wash so it wasn't ready when he left for school that morning so I kindly said I'd wash it for him and bring it down to the school at some point but when Isaac called, that shirt was sitting wet in the washer and I was not near home yet and Isaac's bus was leaving in 5 minutes. I asked if they had any spare uniform shirts he could wear and he said he'd check and call me back. Meantime, I got Eliza home and beat the carpool home just barely, got Eliza and the twins going on homework and put Isaac's shirt in the dryer, realizing I could meet him at the school where they were holding the meet and give it to him there since the girls usually race first so I'd have some time to get Isaac his shirt before his race. I wasn't planning to go to that track meet because I needed to help Liza and the twins with book reports due on Friday and needed to get Ashton to his football game. But the track meet would have to be squeezed in and hopefully it would work out OK.
As we left the last doctor's office and got a late lunch (we were both starving and Eliza needed a little TLC), Isaac called to ask where his uniform was - he had a cross country track meet right after school and had forgotten to put his uniform shirt in the wash so it wasn't ready when he left for school that morning so I kindly said I'd wash it for him and bring it down to the school at some point but when Isaac called, that shirt was sitting wet in the washer and I was not near home yet and Isaac's bus was leaving in 5 minutes. I asked if they had any spare uniform shirts he could wear and he said he'd check and call me back. Meantime, I got Eliza home and beat the carpool home just barely, got Eliza and the twins going on homework and put Isaac's shirt in the dryer, realizing I could meet him at the school where they were holding the meet and give it to him there since the girls usually race first so I'd have some time to get Isaac his shirt before his race. I wasn't planning to go to that track meet because I needed to help Liza and the twins with book reports due on Friday and needed to get Ashton to his football game. But the track meet would have to be squeezed in and hopefully it would work out OK.
As I got the kids going on their homework, I got a call from Ashton asking me to pick him up from school because he needed to bring the robot he's working on plus a case full of robot parts home and couldn't roller blad home with all that stuff. I left the kids doing homework and drove the 5 minutes to the school where I found Isaac still there with his cross country team - the bus hadn't come yet. Darn! Would have been nice to know that the bus was still there so I could bring that still-slightly-damp-but-just-fine uniform shirt down to the school with me and be less pressured about getting to Isaac's meet (I didn't know where the school was where they were holding it - hadn't had a chance to look that up yet - could be really far away - could end up being pretty hard to get there...). Isaac had a HUGE spare uniform shirt on and I hugged him and told him I'd do my best to get to the track meet to bring him his shirt and watch him run but that I wasn't totally sure it would work out. He said he'd be fine with the huge shirt if it came to that.
Then I couldn't find Ashton at the school. Took me 15 minutes to finally track him down. He was having a great time working on robots with the die-hards in his robotics class and said he didn't hear me when I'd told him he'd have to be out front, ready to go when I came to pick him up. He doesn't hear a lot of things these days. But his robot is looking really cool and it was a silver lining to see him in action with his friends. He's really seeming to love school and is loving having cool classes and extracurriculars this year. And it was fun to see Isaac board the bus with his cross country buddies. He's by far the youngest on the team - it's 6th-9th graders and Isaac is a very young 6th grader (summer birthday). But he was joking around and laughing with all the older kids and seemed to be really enjoying being part of the team. Good to see.
I went home, looked up the school where the meet was and saw it was only about 20 minutes away. Decided I'd better go. Helped the twins and Liza with their book reports and homework. Left Eliza to finish the puppet she has to make for her book report and Ashton with the pile of homework he had. Took the twins with me to the track meet.
Well, the school where the track meet was is a brand new school and my phone had a hard time with navigating us there. After driving around for an hour and having the phone tell us that we'd reached our destination which proved to be an abandoned shack and then re-checking the address and finding a different on on the school's website and having the phone take us to a random house, we finally gave up on finding the school and asked the phone to take us home.
On the way home, we ended up randomly finding the school. Sadly, Isaac's run was already finished. He was red-faced and sweaty and triumphant. He had come in 9th place out of about 50 runners, most of whom are a lot older and taller than him. I was so sad we missed it. But we were glad to be able to congratulate him and give him the bottles of water he was needing and take him home with us. He did just fine - huge shirt and all. And the twins and I had some good laughs over the crazy lady in my phone who took us to the wrong destinations. Isaac was grateful we tried. I want my kids to always know that at least I try hard.
We were way late to take Ashton to his game but luckily Jared had been able to make it home early to take Ashton and they were only slightly late. So the twins, Liza and I quickly ate some dinner, rounded up our neighbor and headed to the Cub Scout Pack meeting I was supposed to go to as the Primary rep for the scouts and that I wasn't sure how I was going to attend if I had to be at Ashton's football game (which is way far away). So glad Jared was able to cover that game. We only got to the pack meeting about 10 minutes late.
The pack meeting was fine. I helped with games for the boys while the pack leader did a meeting for all the parents - nice to get everyone on the same page. At the close of the pack meeting, just before calling on someone for the prayer, the the Pack Leader came over to me and discreetly asked if I had the refreshments. Then it all came back to me. I'd signed up for refreshements about a month ago and put it on my calendar so I wouldn't forget but I did forget - completely. All I could say was "Nope, I don't have refreshments. I totally forgot. I'm so sorry." But we just had the closing prayer and no one (other than the twins) really asked about refreshments so it was all OK in the end I guess.
I guess the lesson is that things pretty much always work out OK in the end and I should remember that and stop getting totally stressed about things all the time!
Now I'd better go buy jeans for the twins since I can't seem to find their last-year jean which are probably too small anyway - they're supposed to wear jeans, white shirts (got those washed) and straw hats (got to find the two I THINK we still have from pioneer trek in the basement) for the performance they're doing with their class at the school carnival tonight (which I was supposed to help with but it conveniently happens at the same time as the ward ice cream social that I'm supposed to help with - I THINK I have it mostly figured out how we can be at the most vital parts of both events but we'll see what happens. Oh! And I'm supposed to make some homemade ice cream for the ward party but that might not happen - got some ice cream in the freezer that I can mix some fresh fruit into and it'll be fine...). Ashton signed up to help with a booth at the carnival to do fundraising for robotics club right so there will have to be some back and forth as we try to hit the most vital parts of these two simultaneous events...). I felt pretty guilty but I didn't sign up to help with anything specific at the carnival this year - I did way too much last year. We'll just go for the kids' performances at the beginning and then hit the ice cream social and somehow get Ashton back and forth since he's supposed to be helping with a robotics fundraiser booth at the carnival. No matter how much I DON'T sign up for, somehow I seem to be signed up for a little too much...
But as I learned yesterday, things will work out. They usually do. And when they don't, it's usually not as big a deal as it might seem in the moment!
Then I couldn't find Ashton at the school. Took me 15 minutes to finally track him down. He was having a great time working on robots with the die-hards in his robotics class and said he didn't hear me when I'd told him he'd have to be out front, ready to go when I came to pick him up. He doesn't hear a lot of things these days. But his robot is looking really cool and it was a silver lining to see him in action with his friends. He's really seeming to love school and is loving having cool classes and extracurriculars this year. And it was fun to see Isaac board the bus with his cross country buddies. He's by far the youngest on the team - it's 6th-9th graders and Isaac is a very young 6th grader (summer birthday). But he was joking around and laughing with all the older kids and seemed to be really enjoying being part of the team. Good to see.
I went home, looked up the school where the meet was and saw it was only about 20 minutes away. Decided I'd better go. Helped the twins and Liza with their book reports and homework. Left Eliza to finish the puppet she has to make for her book report and Ashton with the pile of homework he had. Took the twins with me to the track meet.
Well, the school where the track meet was is a brand new school and my phone had a hard time with navigating us there. After driving around for an hour and having the phone tell us that we'd reached our destination which proved to be an abandoned shack and then re-checking the address and finding a different on on the school's website and having the phone take us to a random house, we finally gave up on finding the school and asked the phone to take us home.
On the way home, we ended up randomly finding the school. Sadly, Isaac's run was already finished. He was red-faced and sweaty and triumphant. He had come in 9th place out of about 50 runners, most of whom are a lot older and taller than him. I was so sad we missed it. But we were glad to be able to congratulate him and give him the bottles of water he was needing and take him home with us. He did just fine - huge shirt and all. And the twins and I had some good laughs over the crazy lady in my phone who took us to the wrong destinations. Isaac was grateful we tried. I want my kids to always know that at least I try hard.
We were way late to take Ashton to his game but luckily Jared had been able to make it home early to take Ashton and they were only slightly late. So the twins, Liza and I quickly ate some dinner, rounded up our neighbor and headed to the Cub Scout Pack meeting I was supposed to go to as the Primary rep for the scouts and that I wasn't sure how I was going to attend if I had to be at Ashton's football game (which is way far away). So glad Jared was able to cover that game. We only got to the pack meeting about 10 minutes late.
The pack meeting was fine. I helped with games for the boys while the pack leader did a meeting for all the parents - nice to get everyone on the same page. At the close of the pack meeting, just before calling on someone for the prayer, the the Pack Leader came over to me and discreetly asked if I had the refreshments. Then it all came back to me. I'd signed up for refreshements about a month ago and put it on my calendar so I wouldn't forget but I did forget - completely. All I could say was "Nope, I don't have refreshments. I totally forgot. I'm so sorry." But we just had the closing prayer and no one (other than the twins) really asked about refreshments so it was all OK in the end I guess.
I guess the lesson is that things pretty much always work out OK in the end and I should remember that and stop getting totally stressed about things all the time!
Now I'd better go buy jeans for the twins since I can't seem to find their last-year jean which are probably too small anyway - they're supposed to wear jeans, white shirts (got those washed) and straw hats (got to find the two I THINK we still have from pioneer trek in the basement) for the performance they're doing with their class at the school carnival tonight (which I was supposed to help with but it conveniently happens at the same time as the ward ice cream social that I'm supposed to help with - I THINK I have it mostly figured out how we can be at the most vital parts of both events but we'll see what happens. Oh! And I'm supposed to make some homemade ice cream for the ward party but that might not happen - got some ice cream in the freezer that I can mix some fresh fruit into and it'll be fine...). Ashton signed up to help with a booth at the carnival to do fundraising for robotics club right so there will have to be some back and forth as we try to hit the most vital parts of these two simultaneous events...). I felt pretty guilty but I didn't sign up to help with anything specific at the carnival this year - I did way too much last year. We'll just go for the kids' performances at the beginning and then hit the ice cream social and somehow get Ashton back and forth since he's supposed to be helping with a robotics fundraiser booth at the carnival. No matter how much I DON'T sign up for, somehow I seem to be signed up for a little too much...
But as I learned yesterday, things will work out. They usually do. And when they don't, it's usually not as big a deal as it might seem in the moment!
5 comments:
Totally get those crazy days...I have to laugh because this morning my son informed me it was spirit day-I pulled out a cross country uniform shirt soaking wet with laundry detergent on it from the washer, squeezed it out as much as possible and threw it in the dryer to dry for just minutes before the bus was due!
Thank you for sharing. It sounds like getting a few cartons of "Breyers" ice cream (A.K.A homemade) would be a good alternative for your assignment. Oh the joys of a nice full life.
Sounds familiar! The other night I came home and said we were cutting all extra curricular activities because we are too busy! But I didn't because I want my kids to develop their talents and be well rounded. I just have to figure out how to balance it better.
That is truly insane. One or two kids is more than enough, in my opinion!
I love that you shared this as I often end up with days like this and berate myself and tell myself how "good " moms go through their days seamlessly. I am impressed you didn't lose your cool - something I can't seem to manage these days.
My lesson here is that yes, these crazy days happen to great moms and it's more important to show grace under that pressure than to have a "perfect " day when everyone gets to the right place at the right time with perfectly washed and dried uniforms. Thank you for this glimpse!
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