This past week, Spouse was at a conference leaving me to do all the things that are usually Not On My Radar. And I did mostly okay. Here is a walkthrough day-by-day
Saturday - went to NAMI walk, left children home alone. They played computer games in air conditioned splendor while I avoided succumbing to heat-related illness in 90+ degree heat. In Minnesota. In September. There is some question as to why I attend this event (this was my second go-round) because
Sunday - devoted the entire day to shoe shopping. I think this is true. Needed to buy ballet shoes and tap shoes for the daughter. But also realized that none of my shoes fit and was tired of limping through the end of every day. Children stayed home all day and played computer games in air conditioned splendor. Monday - Patted myself on the back for getting everyone dressed, showered, fed, with lunches and homework and everything. To school. On time. Arranged to have mother in law pick up kids after school so I could make up my time and not use PTO (since I could not drop my children off at 7:45 AND be at work by 7:00 each morning.) Brought oldest to piano. We ate something for dinner. I'm sure of it. Tuesday - Took the daughter to dance class. She was SUPER excited about it. There are 2 other kids in her class. She almost kicked both of her brothers in the head while waiting for me to get home from work to pick her up. She was dressed in her dance stuff 2 hours before we needed to leave. Made sure middle boy was packed for his school retreat. Wednesday - Dropped middle boy off for retreat. Realized that I had not been giving the daughter her asthma medication. Also realized that I had forgotten to put gas in car. And we were out of windshield washer fluid. Thursday - Was meant to be in 4 places simultaneously. Picking up younger children at school. Staying late at work, bringing children to piano and going to band practice. There was not always overlap in these things, but often enough. So I cancelled some of them and farmed others out. Middle boy distraught after returning from retreat: his glasses had been stompled by someone during blindfolded trust activities. (What does that do for your trust?) Faced with anxious boy and the increasing chaos of the house in general, opted to take boy to get his glasses repaired, get take-away Ethiopian food and stay in with the family. Necessary. Friday... Right. There I was, up twenty minutes later than I meant to wake. My fitbit battery was off and I was rather dismissive of my morning alarm on my phone. I kept forgetting what I was doing. I missed the narrow window for taking a shower without disrupting everyone else's routine. I couldn't find the clothes I wanted to wear. So I washed some in the sink and put them in the dryer hoping they would dry enough by the time I needed to leave. Elderboy announced that he was feeling faint and dizzy and had vomitted in his mouth and should he go to school... Given that he had fainted at school the previous week and I would be hard to reach while at school I said no. He sat down and read very distracting science-related jokes while other people tried to remember how to get ready for school. Four minutes before we needed to leave I realized that I was still in my pajamas, had not eaten breakfast and was not sure where I had put the three new pairs of shoes I had purchased Sunday had wandered off to. I ran down to the laundry room and donned my damp clothing, then trudged upstairs to find that daughter had made me two pieces of cinnamon toast and middle boy was in the middle of making me coffee. Got them to school only a little later than I wanted to... and then got lost. Seriously. Made several wrong turns (spurred on by road closures and impatient drivers) and thought to myself, "Huh. I feel really disoriented and brain fogged and this doesn't happen unless... crap. I had also forgotten to take my bipolar meds. Stayed after school for 2 hours to finish up the last of my make-up time. When I got home, elder boy (feeling much better) informed me that we had a flooded basement. Now Spouse is home. And I am at a coffee shop where I am meant to be doing my homework. Grateful Crap: Spouse; and that neither of us is in this alone. Equatorial Actions: being pretty chill throughout the week cutting myself some slack asking for help (thanks grandmas!) school started and i am really tired and i should just go to bed but on the plus side at least i am not making repairs to one plank that is not behaving properly which is of course in the middle of the floor... mocking me. back story: i very responsibly with Spousal consultation and help of all three children did a long-weekend project installing a vinyl plank laminate floor in my kitchen. previous readers may recall that i have replaced the floor twice already in the last 12 years. First with cheap laminate flooring that eventually started to wear off and look like cardboard. Then more recently with kind of decent vinyl self-stick tiles... but the adhesive was several decades old at the time of installation and they had started to come up. When I priced what it would cost (plus the inconvenience of labor involved) to reglue the whole floor... so, vinyl laminate planks. lock together. waterproof. look nice. more durable than the wood-type laminate. it felt kind of like a manicc/hypomanic episode in slow motion. where i was engaged in frenetic activity for long stretches of time... but i was able to break for things like meals. and i was able to schedule different things for different days. one day laying the planks. one day to caulk the perimeter. one day to affix baseboard edging. now it looks nice. EXCEPT for a few places that it is not perfect. which elder boy (who helped lay the floor) pointed out would not bother anyone but me. AND THIS ONE SPOT THAT WILL BOTHER EVERYONE. because i am not a professional. so clearly i made a rookie mistake. ugh. but i have a plan. and all is not lost. and most of the project is a wildly awesome success. and i think that most of this whole thing (frenetic floor replacing and the angst of imperfection) is compounded/caused by the frenetic activity that comes with the new school year.
elder boy started high school today. he seems to like it. he's decided to return tomorrow. i will try to set a schedule of writing. perhaps i can use writing as an excuse for the children not to play games on my computer for a while when they come home. |
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K. BuchananQuaker, teacher, parent, |