Just in case you were sliding into the end of your week thinking what a mess you are and how hard it is to juggle your career and mothering, let me help you feel better.
If I may, by way of excuse, let me begin with the fact that three kids in kindergarten is kicking our butts. Everyone sighed and said, “oh, kindergarten, things will get easier now,” when I emotionally blubbered on about my babies growing up.
They lie.
We’ve always had a nanny since both of us worked, so our day-to-day schedule really doesn’t look any different. Until the evenings come.
Apparently, in kindergarten these days, you have homework. Most days. And there’s two adults and three kids (yes I hear all you parents of big kids shaking your head and saying, oh just you wait, but seriously, this is our first outing with the homework dance). And one of the teachers is super strict. Meaning there is no wiggle room in her rules. And there is the possibility I haven’t followed certain things right down to the teeny weeny letter of the law because we are doing THREE KIDS HOMEWORK. And there is all the paper coming home in the daily folders. And it all mixes in together. And the kids project deadlines get piled on top of my work project deadlines (which actually pay the bills), and I end up curled up in a ball with a glass of wine at the end of the day.
So in this latest back and forth of me disappointing one of the teachers, report cards came home. In an envelope which was blank on the back. I only saw the back because that’s where I opened the report card and promptly tossed the envelope. Because around here, we have to TOSS the paper or we will be buried and then the kids really won’t learn anything because they will be trapped in a paper hoarder’s home (seriously, I understand these people now, they likely had multiple kids in grade school).
We then get an ALL CAPS note home reminding parents to send the report card envelope back to school signed. Ahem.
I send a very nice note back to the teacher, apologizing, letting her know we reviewed the report cards, but I did not see a note we should sign and send them back, so I proceeded to toss them.
Last night, I get what I can only describe as an incredulous note in return with a photocopy of another child’s SIGNED envelope where it clearly says on the front for parents to sign and return the envelope to school each quarter. Y’all, I promise you, I never saw this note. I actually looked all over the report card to figure out if we needed to sign it somewhere. So I sent a note back on the photocopy saying yes, this is the envelope I tossed, it was blank on the back and I didn’t know we needed to return it.
Sigh.
This is only one in a string of mom fails. Apparently little bit was forgetting her modesty shorts and we got a stern note (I leave too early most mornings to check – excuse number two). The kids forget to wear white socks which is strict dress code requirements the note informed us, “if we read the dress code manual.”
This morning I actually said to my husband, don’t unhook the t.v. yet because I’m getting ready and if you unhook it the kids will want to talk to me. Y’all. Sheesh. But I did need to get ready to get out the door and if you working mommas have been there, after the kids are dressed and rooms are clean and breakfast is over, kids get 20 minutes of t.v. It’s the only way we get our hair dry!
So don’t you worry about not getting mom of the year. I’m over here messing it up every day. Kids seem no worse for the wear. They are fed (although I won’t go into my cooking failures as of late), and dressed (for the most part), and cared for and know how madly we love them. So give yourself a break today. I’m going to try to let this whole school learning curve and accompanying failures roll off me like water off a duck’s back…