Mommy Mondays: Best Laid Plans

I wonder sometimes whether most of parenting success can be attributed to not taking things too seriously and to laughing at yourself.

I’ve always found coordinating childcare to be stressful. It seems to take tremendous emotional and mental energy to make the phone calls, coordinate spousal schedules, send the emails, and do all those other tasks that are necessary to make sure that my children are cared for and safe. Once in a routine, of course, it’s easy. But those transition elements? Not so much.

Now that I’m pseudo-single mommying it, all the coordination and care is up to me (at least for the next four months). But it seems to have worked out this semester. I’m far enough along in my PhD program to be finished with coursework. Plus my GTA responsibilities only require that I make the one-hour commute to the city twice a week (as opposed to three of four times, which is what I’m used to).

On top of that, I had childcare worked out! Though I had to be a little creative, especially on Mondays when I’m scheduled to TA a class from 4:15 to 7:00. On these days, I had worked it out to pick L up early from daycare, then pick J up from school when it got out at 2:30. Drive an hour, drop them off at my mom’s house in the city, travel to campus to TA my class until 7:00, pick the kids up from Mom’s house, then head home in time to get them in bed.

Perfect, right?

So here’s how it ACTUALLY worked out yesterday:

• 2:08 — Pick up L from daycare
• 2:17—Arrive at J’s elementary school. Notice how odd it is that I’m the first car in the car pick-up lane
• 2:22—Hmmm . . . why did a class just go out on the playground? Seems strange given how close it is til school closing.
• 2:27—Wait, another class is going out on the playground?! This can’t be right. And still no other parents in the car rider pick-up lane . . . and no school buses? Begin to wonder if I got the time wrong . . . ?
• 2:28—Well sh*t . . .
• 2:30—Pick-up J an hour early from school, which actually gets out at 3:30, NOT 2:30 . . .

So a “your wife’s an idiot” text to the husband and a good laugh later, it’s back to the proverbial drawing board for me to figure out our Monday childcare situation.

Tagged as: Mommy CEO, Mommy Mondays, working mom