Yesterday struck me as bordering on impossibly scheduled but with enough chocolate almonds, a reliable adult diaper, the right timing on my steeped tea, we would get through it as a family.
The day was to play out a little like this.
Ellie (age 5)– art class in the morning.
Hanna (age 8)–cross country meet in the afternoon.
Ellie–violin lesson.
Hanna–swimming lesson.
Hanna–piano lesson.
Chloe (22 months)–draw all over your face, hands and clothes and furniture in permanent marker.
While that last one was not written into our itinerary, it did happen and it did take a long time to clean up.
Mommy (age 36)–eat body weight in chocolate almonds.
I should also add I do not work outside of the home. What do people do that DO work?
We made it to our first activity without incident. Ellie painted on her self portrait, toilet-paper canvas that had dried the way you might expect toilet paper mixed with water and glue constructed to look like a face to dry from the previous week. Perhaps this is where the baby’s inspiration was born?
We gave ourselves a big pat on the back for making it through the morning of what was to be a very busy day without any hiccups.
Then the rain came….
I spent a few spare minutes while the baby napped preparing Hanna’s favourite; homemade macaroni and cheese. Okay, it’s not her favourite, Kraft Dinner is but that’s simply not going to happen so homemade macaroni it was.
I filled a thermos with the noodles, made a blender full of fresh, fruit smoothies for the two younger girls and one to take along for Hanna who might be damp from her very first cross country run. I packed Hanna’s swimming towel, a new Blistex in case her lips had become chapped during the race, her music book, a spare bag of clothes in case she had already used the one I sent with her in the morning or if it did rain a little and she wanted to be toasty warm before and after swimming and some spare socks. Yep, I had thought of everything. Shy of a shiatsu masseuse, I’m pretty sure this kid is going to be pleased with her ultra-organized mother.
Until I arrived at the school and no less than thirty people both parents and students commented that my daughter was FREEZING and SOAKING wet from the cross country meet and this just as my “worst mother of the year” badge fell directly into a puddle.
I watched Hanna emerge shivering from the team bus wearing one of the parent’s jackets that hung down past her knees. Her lips looked blue her hair was so wet not even the curls could fight the weight of the water she was carrying around.
To the pool!
She complained about being cold and wet (noted) but I won a few points for the food prep and did question why she opted not to change into the spare clothes in her backpack (or explain to the parents who were calling child services on me that the dry bag existed) given I had already been told by one of the judgy mothers, there were NO change rooms at the school they were running at. Okay but aren’t those leisure-suit-type pants meant to simply slide over your existing outfit? Do you need full privacy for that?
I was able to ask a few questions about the run and how the rest of her day at school went. Apparently they ran 70,000 metres and then a kilometre after that. No wonder she was tired.
With two minutes to spare before swimming, she chugged her last sip of smoothie and I ran around to unbuckle the baby from her car-seat but not before a terrible feeling hit me. I forgot her bathing suit.
Buckle up kids—we’re going home.
It was probably the right thing to do given Hanna’s long day and she wanted nothing more than to soak in a sudsy, warm bath before piano and violin lessons, which is just what she did.
Chloe and Ellie begged to join her so the three of them had a pre-music soak in my tub and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, nobody breathed in too deeply because Chloe saw fit to use this group bonding opportunity to stand and poop centre stage.
Tomorrow is another day. You can find me in the bulk food aisle with my mouth fully enveloping the chocolate almond bin.
