I knew yesterday was going to be a tough day. Schedule was jam packed, Mom left, and my “Mommy brain” was in full drive.
Day 18:
Something I'm Thankful For: Good, creative, productive collaborative coffee meetings. Bonus points for it being with another creative mama.
Challenge O' The Day: Did I mention my mom was leaving? And that we thought it was a late night flight but it was actually at 5:20 PM? And we have only one car, which hubby is now taking to work every day to the Valley. The day was basically a series of rearranging my day. Essentially, the day was a giant game of schedule Tetris.
Lesson Learned: When I went to my son’s parents’ orientation night, which I totally did not know about (opening up the school e-mails about important upcoming dates might have helped), I mentioned to a girlfriend how I was excited to be out. Her response of “You need to get out more” pretty much says a lot. But the open school night was a moment of triumph for me that I couldn’t really express why until now. I’m super excited for the school year for my son. He is having the absolute best teachers for him, and a fantastic bunch of classmates. Last year we had to bounce him between 3 schools in 2 months, and it was incredibly stressful dealing with a school that was toxic and couldn’t handle him well. I was told twice that he had “boundless energy” and that he needed occupational therapy. To me, and to other professional educators whom I deeply trust, he was simply a highly energetic almost-3-year-old boy. Knowing that he is in the perfect school environment, surrounded by good kids, and one in which I personally have a lot of friends who send their kids there, is a huge sigh of relief. Additionally, my baby girl’s nanny is incredible. We went through so much stress and drama over the last year finding (and then waiting) for the perfect person, and dealing with a whole lot of sour lemons in between. Having someone who is actually trustworthy, helpful, and can drive (especially now that hubby can’t take my son to school in the morning), is also a HUGE weight off my chest. I appreciate my kids being in great hands more than I can say, especially dealing with the guilt of having to work and not watch them 24/7.
Daily Insight: Every time my mom leaves, I get a little sad and reflective. It seems that every time a parent visits, I have a list of goals I hope to accomplish during that period of time, when I have extra hands and don’t have to pay a sitter. But alas, as they say, “Man plans and G-d laughs”. I should have learned by now never to set up goals for things I want to accomplish while my mom is here. Granted, a lot of my work was stunted because of my computer malfunctioning, but it always makes me feel like a failure when I don’t accomplish what I set out to do. Just have to keep moving forward.