It's that time of the semester when things get very busy. The signs? Deadlines are here. Everyone on campus is coughing, sneezing, and running a fever. Students are looking a bit more stressed and frantic. Professors have trouble working because after reading ten research papers, brains are fried.
So I've been in the midst of the busyness. And it showed yesterday.
Friday mornings are hard enough. The usual Dad-has-the-kids-in-the-mornings doesn't occur on Fridays. Fridays mean that Mom has to wake the kids up and take them to whoever is watching them that morning - usually my parents. You wouldn't think that getting myself ready and putting kids in the car wouldn't be that hard. But I guess because I only do it once a week, my timing is usually off. To throw us off even more, I went to boot camp extra early which meant even more scrambling around to get ready for work.
I had done the usual get-stuff-together-for-the-morning the night before. I had Casen's back pack ready by the door. I even had packed myself a lunch. But pretty much everything else I forgot.
As I was telling the boys bye at Mom and Dad's, I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to stick Casen's book in his backpack. He has a weekly book he borrows from his teacher and reads at home with us; it's due back
every Friday. Mom said, "Don't worry, we'll pick it up before school."
About an hour later, Dad called me, "Um, where are the boys' shoes?"
I had completely forgotten to send their shoes with them that day (I had brought clothes for them on Wednesday so at least they had something to wear other than pajamas!). By some miracle, I knew where their shoes were - in their closet for once.
Then when I got home, I'm wrestling with Casen and asking him about his day at school. I suddenly remembered: Show-N-Tell!!!! I HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT SHOW-N-TELL! It's like the best time of a kid's school experience, right? I felt awful. And I know, I know, that kids need to learn responsibility about remembering their own stuff, but C is four. And it was Halloween week. That four-year-old only had two things on his mind all week: a costume and candy. Anyway, I talked to him about it, and he said it was okay that he didn't bring anything this week. I felt a little better when he acted like it was really fine. I felt okay when Dad told me he was fine when they were at school, and he didn't have anything.
Then I remembered I forgot to stick a dollar in his backpack for popcorn and a pickle. It's a weekly fundraiser the PTA does, and C likes to share his food with us when he gets home (I think he thinks he's big stuff buying us treats). My parents had remembered and gave him a dollar.
After all the things I forgot that day, I'm just thankful I have such great parents that help out so much! Otherwise, my kid would be going to school without shoes.
So my big goal for this next week?
Grade a bazillion research papers? Probably not.
Remember shoes and Show-N-Tell? YES!
