Every once in a while, I think we need to sit back and revel in our victories. Today is one of those days. It was a day that was packed full from beginning to end, including non-stop meetings followed by a very strict kid chauffeuring schedule.
VERY strict.
First, I needed to leave work on time. That is no small feat. I’m one of those people who can walk ten feet and get stopped twelve times because EVERYONE has questions. I very much so lack answers, but that doesn’t stop people from trying. Repeatedly. I long ago figured out to take a back stairwell when I’m trying to get out of the building in a timely manner because it legit can take me half an hour to get down four flights of stairs in the center part of the office. That back stairwell is magical, but I still have to get to it. That path is a filled with landmines and quizzing. Today I not only made it to that stairwell without getting stopped, I also managed to escape out a side door without being seen.
That alone is a victory.
But then I made it on time to pick up Alexis. Again, that is no small feat. I am that person who is destined to be late no matter what, so normally if I get out of work in a timely manner, I will get stuck behind grandma driving 10 mph in a 55 mph zone. For real. I can’t begin to count how many times I’ve been caught on a 2-lane road with nowhere to go but slow.
After picking up Alexis, I had to pick up Mila. She’s doing a crazy after-school program for a few weeks. Basically, she gets to stay after school for a swimming class, along with a few hundred other kids who are doing various other activities. What it all amounts to is a NIGHTMARE. Pick-up is about 19138571348 times worse than pick-up on the first day of school. The parents all have to go inside, find the appropriate line to get their kid, and then get checked out by a volunteer who has never before check out a parent.
It’s a cluster. The BIGGEST cluster.
When I pulled into the school parking lot 15 minutes before pick-up was supposed to start, I thought I was screwed. The parking lot was full, meaning dozens and dozens of parents were more than 15 minutes early. The parking lot was so full that Alexis commented, “Do other parents not have lives or something? Why would you show up so early?”
YES. THAT.
When Alexis did the same after-school program years ago, it took about half an hour to get through pick-up. I considered that a feature rather than a bug because it meant I could show up late and still have it seem like I was on time. Today, though, I needed to be on time because I had one other stop. So, even though the lot was full, I got out of the car and walked up to the doors so I could wait in line with hundreds of other parents.
And then it happened. I somehow managed to end up standing in the exact right place where I got to go through the doors first out of all the parents. It was pure dumb luck and I don’t expect to be that fortunate again. I’ll take it, though!
And then I made it through the pick-up process … efficiently? I think that’s the right word. It still took 7 minutes from the time I had a Mila to the time I was officially allowed to exit the elementary school gymnasium (a 30-foot walk, if that), but I’ll take it.
That quick turnaround meant I made it to my next stop with four minutes to spare. Alexis managed to be in dance class – on the other side of town - better than right on time. It was MAGICAL.
Basically what I’m saying is that I’m celebrating the fact that I was on time for three whole things today and if that doesn’t say, “That’s parenthood for you,” then I don’t know what will.