Thursday, September 11, 2008
It's taking a village
One of the distinct disadvantages to my husband's extended workday and 150 mile round-trip commute is that, while he can do the occasionally late-evening soccer pickup, the vast majority of the responsibility for after school activities falls squarely on my shoulders.
At the beginning of the school year, I gridded out the kids' schedules. I mean this literally; there is a color coded time table that hangs above my workspace keeping track of their comings and goings. Piano lessons, check. Soccer, check. Gymnastics, check. Preschool and CBS, check. AWANA and youth group, check.
For a while, it appeared that I would be able to juggle things. After all, the miraculous had happened...the older two had soccer at the same time and location (that's akin to planetary alignment in soccer mom mythology).
It took about two weeks for my pretty little schedule to begin to fall apart. I hadn't counted on middle school soccer (only a 5 week season, PTL!) practices and games, or after school drama practice, or high school lacrosse and soccer pre-season conditioning, or the assortment of (early) evening meetings that seem to pop up at all the different schools. Then the other shoe fell...my son's soccer days were switching OPPOSITE my daughters. Now we have club soccer practice four days a week. One of EJ's soccer practices starts at the SAME time I'm supposed to pick up the Princess from the gym...and it's one county over.
Yesterday, it looked like things might fall apart. It was time to get the Princess from school, but a sudden and severe storm put the school under weather lockdown. EJ was practicing at the middle school, but would need to be picked up early due to the weather. AND I still hadn't figured out how to get kids to gymnastics/soccer in a way that didn't involve me cloning myself (and my van) or leaving my son to wait a lonely half hour in the park (not a comfortable option).
God always works things out. This is what went down.
My friend Andrea and I left our little boys with a third friend, Saundy, while I drove Andrea as close to the school as we could get (the traffic was a snarled mess with the lockdown). While she signed out kids (thank you, Lord that I thought to put her on the pickup authorization!) I drove to the middle school in time to fetched the half-drowned EJ. We drove back in time to get Andrea and the assorted kids as they walked home (the weather had calmed down). I retrieved the youngest with thanks to Saundy, and rushed home to dole out after-school snacks and supervise homework/music practice.
At four, we loaded up again, and dropped the Princess off at the gym. We ran a quick errand to the guitar store, then hooked up down the road with EJ's soccer coach. We traded our van (more seats) for his pickup; moved the car seat, and waved them off. Once I convinced a mildly hysterical Little Guy that it was OKAY that we didn't have "our car!!!", we scooted back to the gym in time to catch the Princess on the bars.
From the gym, we picked up TQ at play practice, and headed home to toss a salad for supper. Later that night, the coach returned EJ and our van. Because this coach drives so many of the boys to practice (lots of working and single moms) we decided that the car swap might be a good arrangement from here on out.
The evening was busy, but nothing near the nightmare it could have been.
The thing is, about halfway through all of this, it hit me.
I'm part of a community here. There are people I can count on to help us out and who love us.
After almost two (very long) years here, it was a lovely realization that a small part of me doesn't really care if our house sells anytime soon.
At the beginning of the school year, I gridded out the kids' schedules. I mean this literally; there is a color coded time table that hangs above my workspace keeping track of their comings and goings. Piano lessons, check. Soccer, check. Gymnastics, check. Preschool and CBS, check. AWANA and youth group, check.
For a while, it appeared that I would be able to juggle things. After all, the miraculous had happened...the older two had soccer at the same time and location (that's akin to planetary alignment in soccer mom mythology).
It took about two weeks for my pretty little schedule to begin to fall apart. I hadn't counted on middle school soccer (only a 5 week season, PTL!) practices and games, or after school drama practice, or high school lacrosse and soccer pre-season conditioning, or the assortment of (early) evening meetings that seem to pop up at all the different schools. Then the other shoe fell...my son's soccer days were switching OPPOSITE my daughters. Now we have club soccer practice four days a week. One of EJ's soccer practices starts at the SAME time I'm supposed to pick up the Princess from the gym...and it's one county over.
Yesterday, it looked like things might fall apart. It was time to get the Princess from school, but a sudden and severe storm put the school under weather lockdown. EJ was practicing at the middle school, but would need to be picked up early due to the weather. AND I still hadn't figured out how to get kids to gymnastics/soccer in a way that didn't involve me cloning myself (and my van) or leaving my son to wait a lonely half hour in the park (not a comfortable option).
God always works things out. This is what went down.
My friend Andrea and I left our little boys with a third friend, Saundy, while I drove Andrea as close to the school as we could get (the traffic was a snarled mess with the lockdown). While she signed out kids (thank you, Lord that I thought to put her on the pickup authorization!) I drove to the middle school in time to fetched the half-drowned EJ. We drove back in time to get Andrea and the assorted kids as they walked home (the weather had calmed down). I retrieved the youngest with thanks to Saundy, and rushed home to dole out after-school snacks and supervise homework/music practice.
At four, we loaded up again, and dropped the Princess off at the gym. We ran a quick errand to the guitar store, then hooked up down the road with EJ's soccer coach. We traded our van (more seats) for his pickup; moved the car seat, and waved them off. Once I convinced a mildly hysterical Little Guy that it was OKAY that we didn't have "our car!!!", we scooted back to the gym in time to catch the Princess on the bars.
From the gym, we picked up TQ at play practice, and headed home to toss a salad for supper. Later that night, the coach returned EJ and our van. Because this coach drives so many of the boys to practice (lots of working and single moms) we decided that the car swap might be a good arrangement from here on out.
The evening was busy, but nothing near the nightmare it could have been.
The thing is, about halfway through all of this, it hit me.
I'm part of a community here. There are people I can count on to help us out and who love us.
After almost two (very long) years here, it was a lovely realization that a small part of me doesn't really care if our house sells anytime soon.
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2 Comments:
That, my dear, is what we call "Grace Under Fire". You have it. In spades.
And to think I called to complain...well, not complain really, more commiserate....because I had four stops on the mom train that day...you had me beat and then some!! I'm glad you've found community...JEALOUS BECAUSE ITS SUPPOSED TO BE ME...but glad!! Love you!!!!
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