The really horrible morning that actually turned out okay in the end.

With this post, I will be revealing my ineptitude at balancing parenting/work/grad school, but a confession might be cathartic. This morning was so stressful, I just need to release it into cyberspace.

12:00 a.m. - (It actually began last night.) Isaac and I had been playing games all evening as it had been declared NO TV, NO HOMEWORK Night. I looked up and cursed my bad parenting skills.

Isaac has been having some bully trouble at school, and yesterday his teacher told me that she caught Isaac hitting the bully. Long story short, I'm glad Isaac stood up for himself, but I'm trying to be a pacifist and teach him the same, so I had to think of a way to reinforce the importance of respecting others. I decided to have a no-TV quiet night so he could think about what would have been a better solution. Instead of watching TV after supper/homework, we played games. Games are fun and Isaac is finally moving beyond the cry-and-throw-a-fit-when-I-lose phase, so it's actually really fun for me, too. Somehow we played games until midnight.

1:45 a.m. - I finally go to bed (Isaac was asleep by 12:15)
6:00 a.m. - Alarm and snooze (repeat 3 x).
6:45 a.m. - I'm UP, I'm UP. Oh crap, I'm up.
7:00 a.m. - Isaac, dude, get up. Isaac. Get up. Isaac? Isaaaaaaaaaaaaac, get up. OK five more minutes.
7:20 a.m. - ISAAC I FORGOT TO WAKE YOU UP COME HERE QUICK AND I'LL CARRY YOU TO THE COUCH!

The late bedtime set the stage for an terrific (terrifying) morning. The gravitational pull of our soft, warm bed was almost too much, but I managed to get myself up after hitting snooze three times. Isaac was even more deeply enveloped in the dreamworld, so I had to carry him (still asleep) to the couch and use my emergency technique of putting on a movie to wake him up. Usually TV is not allowed at all in the morning, but drastic times, etc. etc.

7:30 a.m. - I have to take a shower but should get Isaac moving, too.

Isaac woke up but was not in a good mood. I plopped down his Carnation Instant Breakfast (the only thing I can get him to eat in the morning - and at least it has all those "essential vitamins and minerals") and hopped in the shower. The water was cold because I was probably the last person in the entire complex to take a shower this morning. By the time I got out it was 7:45, Isaac has not eaten his breakfast, brushed his teeth or gotten dressed, and it's time to panic.

7:50 a.m. - Go outside (no time to blow dry) and start the car so that it will be warm enough to drive Isaac to school.

Isaac and I usually walk to school but I really needed to go to the bank, and I thought this morning would be a good, efficient time to do it, so I went outside (with wet hair that promptly froze) and started the car. The car has a problem - I have to hold down the gas pedal for a while until it heats up or else it will shut off. So I sat out in the car - FREEZING - until I felt that it was warm enough. I then rocked the car back and forth to try to dislodge it from the snow and ice that had accumulated over the past week. After another 10 minutes, I managed to get it out and parked it kind of in front of some other cars in the parking lot. I figured I'd just run in and get Isaac and we'd be out of there. The universe laughed at me.

8:24 a.m. - CRAP! I didn't pack Isaac's lunch yet! OK, I am now resigned to getting a tardy slip from the office.

Isaac's school starts at 8:35. He's not dressed, nor has he brushed his teeth. Where is his backpack? Why is he whining? Lunch...what to pack....the kid doesn't eat anything I send except for the yogurt. OK yogurt, carrots, peanut butter sandwich. Is that enough? Throw in a fruit roll up. Done. Wait, he needs a morning snack...find the goldfish crackers, find a container, where's the backpack. Isaac get dressed NOW! Yes, you can get dressed in front of the TV just do it QUICK!

8:36 a.m. - We're out the door. As we approach the car, I can tell that it's not running. Get in, turn the key and....click click click. Battery is dead. We're already late, battery is dead, I'm parked in the middle of the lot, totally blocking other people from getting out.

8:38 a.m. - Try the key again. Still not working.

8:39 a.m. - Call DomNem.

Can you come and let me use that fancy jumpbox that you were talking about the other day? Oh you're paper is due at 10 and you're still proofing it? Hob can bring it over before he goes to work. OK call me back.

8:45 a.m. - Call DomNem again.

Hob is already doing a favor for another friend this morning. OK I'll walk to school with Isaac, you finish your paper, email it to me and I'll proof it while you drive over.

8:57 a.m. - Get a tardy slip for Isaac.

On the way to school, Isaac made it known that this morning's events were less than ideal. He asked me to promise to never let this happen again. I suddenly felt my crabbiness overflow and didn't do a good job of being patient with my child. Once we got to the schoolyard, I had a flash of one of us dying before we got to see each other again, and I didn't want to have our last conversation be a crabby one. So I took five minutes to make sure we were okay.

9:15 a.m. - Back home, thaw frozen face skin, eat breakfast, wait for DomNem.

9:47 a.m. - DomNem arrives, I'm already almost done proofing her paper. We print it. We go out to charge the battery.

If I was making a car battery or a jumpbox, I'd try to put prominent markings indicating which were the positive or negative charging points. As it was, the jumpbox had one red and one black clamp, and the battery had one red and one black wire coming out. We thought maybe they were color coded, but nope, they weren't. Philosopher G to the rescue! He told us what to clip where, and by golly it worked!

10:00 a.m. - Follow DomNem to her house to drop off her car.

10:15 a.m. - Drop DomNem off on campus.

10:30 a.m. - Bank

I arrived at work at 1:00, 4 hours late. I guess I'll survive, but GOD I need a break!