Much like the airline industry, I am prone to encountering “overbooking situations”. Somehow, I always think that this will be the week when the space-time continuum will alter to accommodate my planned 30-hour day.
Wednesday, I actually planned the following day. And I swear that at the time, this day seemed a bit busy perhaps, but also totally doable. Here it is:
- 7:30-9:30: Simon wakes up, we have breakfast, I shower and enjoy a leisurely cup of tea, then Simon and I play together for a bit.
- 9:30: Molly (the sitter) arrives for the day.
- 9:30: Amy (the physical therapist) arrives for Simon’s First Steps appointment.
- 10:00: Christopher arrives for the morning. He plays with Molly and/or plays with Simon during his therapy appointment.
- 10:30-1:30: I work, eat lunch, and supervise the landscaping in the front of the house and the deck building in the back.
- 1:30-3:00: I meet with my neighbor Lynn to cut down two trees along our property line in preparation for more landscaping work.
- 3:00: Molly leaves for the day; Simon and I play until 5:00 or so when Matt gets off work.
- 5:00-8:00: dinner and play-time
- 8:00: bedtime for Simon
- 8:00-10:00: household organization project continues (I’m overhauling the inside and out.)
HA!
Here’s what really happened:
- 9:00: Simon wakes up Our little sleep champ logged 12 ½ hours Tuesday night.
- 9:10-9:30: No time for planned pancakes. I throw yogurt and granola into a bowl, hand it to Matt, and dash to the shower.
- 9:30: Molly and Amy arrive; Simon is still groggy and slightly crabby. I’m dressed but dripping.
- 9:50: Christopher arrives and seems a bit crabby and clingy himself.
- 10:00: Christopher begins to cry.
- 10:15: I meet with Fairleigh (front yard landscaper) to discuss plans while trying to console Christopher and participate in Simon’s First Steps session at the same time.
- 10:30: Amy updates me on Simon’s progress, gives me written instructions for the next three weeks, and tries to schedule our next session while I rock an increasingly inconsolable Christopher in my lap.
- 10:35: I see Amy out the door and answer a quick question from Walter (the deck guy) as I load Christopher in the stroller to take him back to Shannon’s shop.
- 10:35-11:35: Walk to Mama’s Hip and back, stop to discuss Christopher’s hard morning with Shannon and assure her that these difficult stages are universal and normal.
- 11:35-2:15: Log in to work. Complete single task that was supposed to take 20 minutes.
- 2:15-3:00: No sign of neighbor Lynn, so first round of weed-killer administered using my new sprayer. I learn two valuable lessons at this point. First, add the Roundup to the water-not the other way around! Second, be very careful when you go to empty the pressure sprayer, lest you spray Roundup all over your legs and face. Yuck!
- 3:00-3:10: See Molly off, hang on to cranky Simon, and check to make sure I have the Poison Control number just in case.
- 3:10-4:00: Pay Fairleigh for work, keep Simon from running into the street or poison ivy patch, eavesdrop on Greg (the architect and landscaper) who is explaining to Walter that my deck is now seven inches lower than it’s supposed to be. Uh Oh! Run into Lynn and reschedule our work.
- 4:00-5:30 Escape with Simon to park to play and then to Heine Brothers for some decaf and a Kizito cookie.
- 5:45 to 8:00: Sit looking shell-shocked as Matt makes dinner and plays with Simon before bedtime. Clean kitchen from earlier milk spill. Put in load of diapers. Talk to assistant about author emergency. Talk to author about author emergency. Pour restorative glass of wine.
- 8:00 and beyond. Attend to new bug-bites, collapse on couch, watch “Entourage”, begin new book.
The rest of my planned filing/weeding/household organization? I decided it could wait until Thursday. Simon spends Thursdays at Jim and Evie’s for about six hours, giving me time to work for five hours, work around the house for three hours, and run a few errands. With logic like this, what could possibly go wrong?