Wrenching the Overbooked Mom Back into the Big Picture
I almost didn't have a very thankful Thanksgiving. It was my own fault. I was so overbooked and tired that gratitude was kind of on the back burner. Survival was more the order of the day. Yet it didn't occur to me that even my definition of "survival" was something to be grateful. After all, I wasn't literally scrambling to find safety or food or shelter for the survival of my family. Just trying to swim through the myriad minor crises of a safe and prosperous first world family.
Monday I spent almost the entire day in the car. Well, except when I was frantically shopping or trying to get chores done around the house. Tuesday was just as busy, plus Tuesday night we went to stand in as extras for a music video a girl in our ward was making. Normally I would have said no-- our family has zero desire to perform or be in front of any cameras at all, really-- but in this case I felt like I really needed to say yes. Possibly to help put to rest some lingering resentment. Anyway, it was an experience-- but a very stressful one. There was the whole ordeal of getting my kids into "Christmas Sunday dress" and then trying to keep them somewhat in line for the video shoot. I know, the camera guys kept saying they wanted "authentic," but I'm not sure that shoving matches and tears were the kind of authentic they were going for. Even with the promise of ice cream sundaes afterward dangling in front of him K literally sobbed through several takes. Well, our family was certainly "real."
Wednesday I hoped would be a little easier. I bowed out of the trip to the movies that my mother planned, even though it meant missing time with my sisters and their families. My list of stuff that needed to get finished was just too long. But Wednesday ended up even more convoluted . . . All the kids had early release days from school, with M (like normal) out before the other kids by about one and half hours. To kill the time, we decided to hit a few stores near her high school in search of a new church outfit for M. M enjoys shopping about as much as I do (and is even pickier about her clothes) so mostly it was a little like browsing on fast forward. Go into a store, do a quick circuit of the juniors/women's clothes, not see a single thing that will work, and head back out. We walked through about seven stores this way at one of those large outdoor shopping centers. We still had a little more time but no more stores to look through and zero interest in browsing, so we tromped back to the van.
Now, I am no car expert but as we walked up to the van something seemed very off about the tires. They didn't look flat-- not flapping on the ground flat-- but were they low? They didn't look normal. M helped me track down the tire gauge (which fortunately I do know how to use, even if I'm always nervous I'm doing it wrong) and I checked each of the tires. Three were fine-- one, instead of being 35 psi, was only 10 psi.
I rechecked it three times. Couldn't see a nail or anything, or hear any air, though the weird dent in the sidewall was troubling (Was it normal? How would I know?) Now I was getting nervous. There were some tough decisions ahead to make.
This is when I discovered that I had left my cell phone at home.
That was panic inducing in and of itself. First, I couldn't call Terence and ask for his advice. Second, if I needed to have the tire changed, I couldn't call AAA. Third, if I was going to be late to pick up the other kids, I'd have no way to call the school. Payphones don't exist. I could air up the tire and go to pick up the kids, but what if it went completely flat on me? Terence found a little old lady who had been stuck out on the highway over two hours last week because she didn't have a cell phone and no one stopped to check on her. Probably everyone assumed she could call for help. They'd probably assume the same thing about me.
No stress. No effect on my already high blood pressure, right? (Um, yeah, my blood pressure has been too high every day this week. Yes, I know, I'm supposed to be taking better care of myself. Ugh.)
What to do? What to do?
(To Be Continued....)
Monday I spent almost the entire day in the car. Well, except when I was frantically shopping or trying to get chores done around the house. Tuesday was just as busy, plus Tuesday night we went to stand in as extras for a music video a girl in our ward was making. Normally I would have said no-- our family has zero desire to perform or be in front of any cameras at all, really-- but in this case I felt like I really needed to say yes. Possibly to help put to rest some lingering resentment. Anyway, it was an experience-- but a very stressful one. There was the whole ordeal of getting my kids into "Christmas Sunday dress" and then trying to keep them somewhat in line for the video shoot. I know, the camera guys kept saying they wanted "authentic," but I'm not sure that shoving matches and tears were the kind of authentic they were going for. Even with the promise of ice cream sundaes afterward dangling in front of him K literally sobbed through several takes. Well, our family was certainly "real."
Wednesday I hoped would be a little easier. I bowed out of the trip to the movies that my mother planned, even though it meant missing time with my sisters and their families. My list of stuff that needed to get finished was just too long. But Wednesday ended up even more convoluted . . . All the kids had early release days from school, with M (like normal) out before the other kids by about one and half hours. To kill the time, we decided to hit a few stores near her high school in search of a new church outfit for M. M enjoys shopping about as much as I do (and is even pickier about her clothes) so mostly it was a little like browsing on fast forward. Go into a store, do a quick circuit of the juniors/women's clothes, not see a single thing that will work, and head back out. We walked through about seven stores this way at one of those large outdoor shopping centers. We still had a little more time but no more stores to look through and zero interest in browsing, so we tromped back to the van.
Now, I am no car expert but as we walked up to the van something seemed very off about the tires. They didn't look flat-- not flapping on the ground flat-- but were they low? They didn't look normal. M helped me track down the tire gauge (which fortunately I do know how to use, even if I'm always nervous I'm doing it wrong) and I checked each of the tires. Three were fine-- one, instead of being 35 psi, was only 10 psi.
I rechecked it three times. Couldn't see a nail or anything, or hear any air, though the weird dent in the sidewall was troubling (Was it normal? How would I know?) Now I was getting nervous. There were some tough decisions ahead to make.
This is when I discovered that I had left my cell phone at home.
That was panic inducing in and of itself. First, I couldn't call Terence and ask for his advice. Second, if I needed to have the tire changed, I couldn't call AAA. Third, if I was going to be late to pick up the other kids, I'd have no way to call the school. Payphones don't exist. I could air up the tire and go to pick up the kids, but what if it went completely flat on me? Terence found a little old lady who had been stuck out on the highway over two hours last week because she didn't have a cell phone and no one stopped to check on her. Probably everyone assumed she could call for help. They'd probably assume the same thing about me.
No stress. No effect on my already high blood pressure, right? (Um, yeah, my blood pressure has been too high every day this week. Yes, I know, I'm supposed to be taking better care of myself. Ugh.)
What to do? What to do?
(To Be Continued....)
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