I seem to have lost my voice. I can croak out a few words, but this is always a reminder to me of why I record things several weeks in advance. If I needed to produce a podcast for tomorrow we’d have a problem. I know some people record a lot more spontaneously than me but…I guess I’m just a pessimist. (Or perhaps a realist? Stuff goes wrong all the time!)
Anyway, yesterday was long. Thursdays usually are, but this one more than usual. I needed to do the jazz band run in the morning, and take the 9-year-old with me, so I got up at 6:10 to get ready before I got the big kids up (6:30). We were all in the car at 7:00 for the high school drop off, and then the middle school jazz band drop off. Then the 9-year-old and I went to Dunkin’ Donuts as a reward for him getting up earlier than he usually needs to! He got a glazed donut and I had an almond milk latte. Yum.
I was home to let the cleaners in, do a little work, then I took the 9-year-old to school. I came home to work for 30 minutes, then went to the 4-year-old’s parent-teacher conference. I stopped by the grocery store after, then came home and worked on various projects (with a short break to walk outside- it was gorgeous!) until a 2:45-3:30 podcast. My voice was mostly OK for that still. At 4:05 I left to get the 14-year-old at an after-school activity. We made it home at approximately 4:37, which I was aware of because we needed to be back in the car to bring him back to school at 5:04 to make his 5:15 call for the musical. (Why all the back and forth? So he could change, drop his stuff, get some dinner…He had wanted to stay after school for practice for another activity that he hasn’t been able to do the past two weeks with tech rehearsals, so Mom makes it happen…).
I drove back home, picked up two bottles of wine from the pantry, and switched over to the van so I could go to a friend’s house and help her set up for a party for our preschool. Every year, there’s a “Mom’s Wine Night” party in advance of the fundraising silent auction (you donate a nicer bottle to later be auctioned as a set, and bring a bottle for the party). I couldn’t actually attend the party, which started at 7, so I went from 6-6:45 to put out glasses and forks and hang out. Then it was back in the car at 6:45 to get to choir at 7 (my 16-year-old met me there – he drives my Acura). My voice was not 100 percent for sure but I did manage to sing most of the stuff, including our chamber choir’s rehearsal from 8:45-9:30 (my son is not singing with this smaller group, so he drives himself home separately). I got home at about 9:40, which was just about when my husband got home from getting the 14-year-old after the musical, and helped with getting kids to bed…which was a long process because the 4-year-old did not go down until at least 10:30. I read him four books and that was the end of my voice. Raspy and pretty bad this morning!
So, it was a long day, with a lot of moving parts (I only wrote here about my back and forth – other people were driving other children various places!). But not every day is like that. Other than the school musical (my son is managing the sound system), this should be a fairly low-key weekend. That is one upside of tracking my time, and thinking of life in terms of weeks. If I was just looking at yesterday, I might have a certain story of life. But on Saturday I should just have a few errands to do and I plan to do some work (fun, fun…but when you have teacher conferences at 9:45 a.m. and stop working at 4:00 p.m. some days the time needs to happen somewhere).
In the meantime…Have you subscribed to Vanderhacks? If you enjoy my blog posts, you will likely enjoy this every-weekday-morning newsletter, which always features a bite-sized bit of productivity advice. For instance this week we talked about why you should “Let your no be no” and the home design principle to “Find uses for unused space.” Most are free (those two are); currently one a week is behind the paywall. Please check it out!
If you haven’t listened to Sarah and my “Fun Facts” episode of Best of Both Worlds, please do. I will admit I actually listened to this twice because parts of it just crack me up. I am still pondering Sarah’s curling iron that let you do “triangles.”
This week’s Before Breakfast podcast covered a few topics, including “Choose interruptible work when you’ll be interrupted,” and the wisdom of asking the question “Would you pay full price?” Please give them a listen!
In other news: I am proud of myself for remembering three things this morning that could easily have been forgotten. How did I remember? I put them on my calendar and then put them on today’s to-do list, which I remembered to look at first thing. Phew. It was elementary school picture day, so the 9-year-old left for school in a much nicer shirt than usual. Also, his class got a reward for good behavior, so they could bring in a stuffed animal. The stuffed animal made it too! And the Holland Ridge Farms “anytime” flex tickets went on sale at 9 a.m. this morning. I bought my tickets at approximately 9:06 a.m. I seem to recall these selling out at some point, so I put it on my calendar several months ago when I got the newsletter. I’m sure I’m forgetting something else, but not those three things..
Yes, Ms. Laura Vanderkam, I also think that when you was just looking at yesterday, you might have a certain story of life. If one looks at a number of days, though, one will not necessarily have the same story of life.
I always love your zoomed out perspective on one day having been busy but it was just one day. I also give myself a pat on the back when I remember all (or most of) those little things. I have gotten in the habit of writing notes and sticking them on the back of our front door for things like PJ day and such. My kids are 7 and 10 and my new rule for those things is I will tell them once and it is then their job to keep up with it. Have you moved any of those responsibilities to your kids’ plates? I still try to be counted on for reminders.
@Kristen – I do remind the kids of a lot, though they also remind me of things. And I’m happy that this week’s middle school spirit week has not involved my remembering anything!