A Day in the Life

I was thinking the other day about how my days used to go when I had only one child and still worked outside of the home.

And I wasn’t thinking about it because I was necessarily wishing I was back there, of course not.  I was thinking about it because I try to keep my brain sharp with the memories and I just have to marvel at the difference sometimes.

When I worked I woke up early to get myself and my baby boy ready for the day.  I would drop him off at daycare and then drive 25-35 minutes to my office, carry out my day with mostly adult interactions (let’s face it, some co-workers acted like children at times) and hurriedly leave my office no later that 5 p.m. to get back to my little guy and spend a few hours together before his bedtime.

I remember one afternoon Tim called to ask me if I wanted to go look at new vehicles at the dealership after I got off work.  I freaked out on him because I could NOT imagine picking B up later than normal and hardly getting to spend any time with him and not getting him his dinner on time.  I was adamant about it, actually.

Looking back, I know one afternoon of picking him up later and feeding him chicken nuggets from Wendy’s would not have been the end of the world.  But back then it sure seemed like it…

This brings me to Tuesday of last week.

It was an ordinary day but some outstanding circumstances made it a wee bit different.

I was driving around in my van with the little spare on one wheel, waiting for the tire shipment to arrive at the auto place.  Of course they can finally do it around 3:15, 45 minutes before G’s gym class and I realize that I have to go RIGHT then, after school pick up, or this tire will not be mine until the next day.  And well, I was “tired” of driving a lopsided van.

So, I got the kids out to go into the place and give them my keys and realize that K has NO shoes on since I picked her right out of bed from her nap to go get her brothers. And for once, there is no “spare” pair just hanging out in the van. Of course not.  So, she ran around the auto place with no shoes on for 30 minutes, eating a crumbly snack and asking for a lollipop that they had in their customer coffee room.  So, we fought about “no lollipop.”  There were tears. Almost from me too.

Anyway, we were 18 minutes late to gym class and I carried her the entire time before we ran next door to Kohl’s to buy her some $12.95 canvas shoes.  And God bless baby wipes, even though all of my children are potty-trained.  Because with kids, you’re still gonna need ’em for something… like dirty, “running around the tire store” feet.  Yeah.

And this was all in just about an hour’s time.  And to think that in my “previous life” that time would have been spent drinking my 5th cup of coffee, working on Excel spreadsheets and answering business emails.

Yes, I used to be in the corporate world, but those memories are definitely fading…

How was your Tuesday?

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?