advertisement
-
He told me about the meeting, at least I vaguely remember. He told me Monday, that the meeting was Tuesday, but if school was cancelled, they would reschedule it. Then, in true harried-parent form, because school was indeed cancelled due to the snow, I forgot about it.
Then yesterday happened-a seemingly normal day, the kids back in school after Mother Nature’s imposed closings. Loads of laundry folded and put away followed by the weekly grocery shopping trip. A nap squeezed in some minutes before my oldest comes home from school because I have a headache that seems to elude the healing powers that triple doses of ibuprofen should cure. My mind was resigned to an evening shopping trip with the boys because shoes don’t last as long as they used to.
Sitting in my recliner, thinking about the trip to Kohl’s, planning the rest of my weekend, my heart beating at a reasonable rate because so far the weekend has been manageable. My cell phone rings that all-too familiar ring. Scholar bowl tournament will be over about 7:00.
So late, I see the trip to Kohl’s fading off into the distance. My mind scrambles to the vision of my coupon. Yes- I am that kind of shopper. I am reminded of my headache as I get out of my chair, my oldest daughter just getting home, and realizing that I still need to get off my rump and pick up my youngest. I have a sudden overwhelming desire to not make dinner, and my daughter joins me in picking up the youngest and we head to one of our favorite burger joints. We won’t talk about the fact that I gave up red meat for Lent and ended up with only a so-so fish sandwich.
While I am trying to enjoy my mediocre fish, my son has an epiphany. “Mom, that meeting is tonight!”
“What meeting?” I am digging deep in my brain trying to remember what was possibly going on at the school that night.
“For registration and honors classes-they rescheduled it for tonight.”
That band of resistance that tends to be a bit more flexible on most days because I know that parenting demands it, well it is taut. My blood is boiling a tad-no bother that there were no calls or notes from school. Maybe it is the dull ache in my head, or the fact that the shopping trip to Kohl’s looks like it is going to have to wait until the next day-uh, no, not even the next day. Except that I cannot forget that there is a choir concert the next night-a momentous event at the Maverick’s game-a two-fer in our book-Sports and music, the highlight of a kid’s life.
We sit in a twenty minute a meeting featuring a Power point that totally mimics that handout that accompanies the meeting which is also the same Power point that will grace the school’s webpage. I look around at all of the other parents and I wonder if I am the only one that is sulking, acting like a spoiled brat.
Wondering why I am being so selfish-isn’t this my job-to attend meetings, pick up kids, support their activities, cook them dinner, and sometimes pushing through the dull ache of my head in order to get it done?
I wish I could say that I wasn’t cranky and irritable the rest of the night-no, that would be a lie. I did take the boys home, take a hot shower, and decide that the shopping trip could wait until Saturday and that the world did not end because the day did not go exactly as I had planned. By bedtime, I remembered that I am far from perfect, I should not place that expectation on another and it was time to forgive, forget and move on.
May 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tagslife (7)
christmas (3)
divorce (3)
growing up (3)
lessons (3)
single parenting (3)
teenagers (3)
accomplishments (2)
back to school (2)
boy scouts (2)
boys (2)
chaos (2)
family time (2)
gratitude (2)
home ownership (2)
kids (2)
motherhood (2)
new year (2)
resolutions (2)
sanity (2)
togetherness (2)
vacation (2)
yard work (2)
(1)
2012 (1)
active teens (1)
activities (1)
adult bully (1)
adventures (1)
age (1)
alright (1)
archery (1)
baby steps (1)
bad examples (1)
best friends (1)
birds (1)
birthday (1)
boys to men (1)
busy-ness (1)
calendar (1)
camp (1)
canoeing (1)
carpentry (1)
challenges (1)
child rearing (1)
children (1)
choice (1)
choices (1)
christmas tree (1)
cleaning room (1)
clubs (1)
coffee (1)
college (1)
college break (1)
coming out (1)
complicated life (1)
confirmation (1)
confused (1)
cookies (1)
cooking (1)
courage (1)
crawlspace (1)
cruise (1)
dance (1)
dead trees (1)
december (1)
decision making (1)
dentist (1)
dinner (1)
disappointment (1)
diy (1)
dogs barking (1)
drug abuse (1)
elections (1)
encouragement (1)
events (1)
facebook (1)
fall funfest (1)
family (1)
family table (1)
fearlessness (1)
fighting (1)
fired (1)
first jobs (1)
forgetfullness (1)
friends (1)
friendship (1)
fun (1)
funny anecdotes (1)
games (1)
goals (1)
good examples (1)
goodness (1)
grace (1)
grin (1)
happy birthday (1)
happy hour (1)
health (1)
help (1)
helping others (1)
holiday (1)
holidays (1)
homosexuality (1)
house projects (1)
housework (1)
hugs (1)
humanity (1)
independence (1)
independent (1)
individual attention (1)
joy (1)
jumbled mind (1)
kid=stories (1)
kids cooking (1)
kids saving (1)
kis growing up (1)
labels (1)
last goodby (1)
laughter (1)
laundry anarchy (1)
lemons and lemonade (1)
less hate (1)
living outside box (1)
lonely (1)
mac and cheese (1)
magazine surveys (1)
maintenance free (1)
manuals (1)
may (1)
me time (1)
medication (1)
mediocre homemaker (1)
memories (1)
mental health (1)
merit badges (1)
middle school (1)
milestones (1)
milk (1)
miss you (1)
mom meetups (1)
mom support (1)
moms dating (1)
money (1)
moral support (1)
more love (1)
neighbors (1)
nervous mom (1)
networking (1)
new years eve (1)
normalcy (1)
not a hugger (1)
numbers (1)
okay with the world (1)
oldest daughter (1)
opportunities (1)
parenting (1)
parenting more than one (1)
people are people (1)
people watching (1)
personal finance (1)
pets (1)
picky eater (1)
plants (1)
play (1)
plays (1)
poetry (1)
raising children (1)
relief (1)
rough patches (1)
sacraments (1)
sad (1)
scaredy cat (1)
self improvement (1)
sick pets (1)
snow (1)
social (1)
social media (1)
spouse (1)
stars (1)
summer break (1)
surreal (1)
surveying life (1)
symmetry (1)
tadpoles (1)
talents (1)
teaching (1)
teen angst (1)
teen bully (1)
teens dating (1)
teens driving (1)
thanks (1)
the big picture (1)
thinking (1)
thoughts (1)
time (1)
tolerance (1)
too many things to do (1)
tooth fairy (1)
traditions (1)
travel (1)
turning sixteen (1)
tweens (1)
unexpected (1)
valentines (1)
village (1)
virtual life (1)
weekend home (1)
weight loss (1)
westport (1)
wood floors (1)
working together (1)
worry (1)
wrestling (1)
writing (1)