Re: schedule

Every so often, I get the urge to write about something I think is important. Something deeper than just my kids' latest antics. Something universal that all - or at least a lot of - parents can relate to. But then I can't figure out how exactly to write it.

And now you know why it's been a couple days since I last wrote.

To quote a good friend, who has three busy kids' schedules to juggle (so compared to her, I have nothing to complain about), "Who the f#@* is able to make it to five o'clock games? Who's got a schedule like that?" Meanwhile, a co-worker who lives in rural Wisconsin figured out she'd need to leave work at 2 p.m. in order to get home, pick up her daughter and then turn around and make it to the five o'clock games that are scheduled in Hermantown twice a week.

Somehow knowing I'm not the only one in this situation makes me feel a little better. But not really.

Allow me to reflect on this past week. Wednesday, AJ had soccer practice at 6 p.m. The weather on Wednesday was pretty crappy, and so throughout the day I checked for an e-mail announcing practice was cancelled. Apparently I must not have checked after 4 p.m. Jeff brought the kids to me at work a little after 4:30. To compensate for road construction, and to make sure the kids got something to eat prior to 7:30, I left work a half hour early, stopped at Subway for sandwiches, and then headed with the kids to practice.

We actually made it to the field almost 10 minutes early. And then sat in the car because it was drizzling outside. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, at 6:02, I asked Sydney to hand me my phone, which I'd given her to play with back at my office to keep her busy while I finished some work. Sure enough, at 4:05, the cancellation e-mail had arrived.

GRRRRRRR!!!!!

Thursday, was even more fun.AJ had his final game of the year at 5 p.m., and  Sydney had dance at 5:15. (There was supposed to be an end-of-season pizza party immediately following the game, but in the Wednesday e-mail the coach announced he was post-poning it.) Jeff made arrangements to go in to work late, thank goodness, because I don't know how else we'd have made it work. Still, I left work an hour early to get to AJ's game. Jeff called while I was in transit saying he'd forgotten the chord AJ has to wear with his glasses, so I headed home first to grab it, and then at last made it to the game. AJ was already playing (this ref didn't seem to care about that rule.) Jeff was sporting the same expression I'd worn the day before. He'd just gotten back from dropping off Sydney, where he learned her dance class actually starts at 5, not 5:15. Oh yeah, and during the eight minutes she'd spent at AJ's soccer game, she'd managed to get mud all over her face and leggings, so he really appreciated the looks the other parents threw his way.

We watched the game together for about 20 minutes, and then I had to leave to pick up Sydney. It wasn't just the class' start time that was 15 minutes earlier than I realized. Of course this means during last week's crazy Thursday schedule, we weren't just a couple minutes late; we were almost 20 minutes late. That also explains why Sydney was waiting for me and all the other kids were gone when I showed up a little before 6 to pick her up. UGGGGHHH!!!)

As politely as I could, I asked the woman at the desk when the class time had shifted. She said it hadn't. I looked at the schedule with her and then realized that classes for Sydney's age group are offered three days a week. The Monday and Wednesday classes both start at 5:15. It's only Sydney's class that starts at 5. Ooohhhh! The woman had never realized it, and had no idea why that is.

Just. Swell.

So all my venting aside, both kids had a great time. Sydney loves wearing her tutu, and surprisingly prefers the ballet portion of the class to the tap dance part.

She learned a new position Thursday, called the "sailboat". She was happy to demonstrate it for me, though I suspect she doesn't quite have it nailed. 

AJ, meanwhile, had a good game. He played defense during the short time I was able to watch. He seems to not entirely understand what he's supposed to do in that role, beyond the obvious of preventing the other team from scoring. He seems to think his job is to be the back-up goalie, and often times ends up screening the teammate in that position.

It was when he tried to make a save by grabbing the ball we had to remind him he wasn't the goalie. I guess that's something he can work on next year.

In the meantime, we now have a month with a relatively easy schedule. Other than Sydney's dance class (which I'm still debating whether to keep her in - we have the option of switching to Wednesday's 5:15 class) AJ has no extra-curricular activities until hockey starts in November. Then it will be four months of insanity.

And so I return to the conversations with my other mom friends. Are there any parents out there who can successfully juggle a full time job and kids activities? Or are the next 10-12 years going to be a constant fly by the seat of my pants existence? I'd welcome any advice.

There are so many opportunities out there, all with the potential to be good experiences. I totally missed the sign-up for Cub Scouts, something AJ has expressed interest in doing because he has several friends who are in it. And I'm really not that sorry. There's no way he could have made the weekly meetings during hockey season. So many choices, and he's only six.

As much as I don't want to limit my kids' involvement in positive activities, I deliberately steered AJ away from another sport this past week. He brought home a sign-up sheet for basketball and said he wanted to play. Practices are Saturday mornings from 8-9 a.m. "No! No! No!" I wanted to scream. Instead, I calmly reasoned, "You could, but that would mean you wouldn't have any mornings when you could sleep in."

"Oh," AJ thought for a moment. "Let's not do it, then."

We all make choices. Hopefully the ones I've made won't land me in a mental health ward.