On Thursday, I had a completely different plan for my day. Since my deadline was Friday, I was going to leisurely take the day to read the complete manuscript again, with my revisions. I was going to read it in one sitting and correct any additions that jarred.
Instead:
I forgot my daughter’s dental appointment until it was practically time to hit the road.
I didn’t have time to rearrange carpool, so I drove it. One little girl cried the whole way to the elementary school because she hadn’t done her spelling homework. I’ve got to get back home to take my daughter to her dental appointment. “Sweetie? Why not go to the media center (what they call libraries at schools these days) and finish it up.” She won’t get out of the car. She’s sobbing hysterically. I walk her through the process of collecting herself, sitting inside the school’s library and finishing the homework. –15 minutes from the game plan.
I go to the dental appointment with my daughter. –45 minutes from my plan, since I’d forgotten the appointment. Her dental appliance is checked and ruled fine.
Daughter realizes in dentist chair that her math homework might be wrong? Or she might not understand it. We sit in the lobby of the dentist office and I try to 1) Understand the homework and then 2) Explain it to her. -15 minutes.
Brownie Scout meeting is that night. I’m not the leader for the evening, but I have the craft box. Does the craft box have Elmer’s Glue? asks my co-leader. I have to locate the craft box in the crazy closet under my stairs. I try to find the ziplock of Elmer’s Glue. -15 minutes.
Neighbor calls. Conflict with the afternoon middle school carpool and the elementary school drama class. Can I take an extra child home? Sure. -35 minutes.
Drama class lets out late. Some weird forms we have to fill out that are Very Important. I sign the one for my child and the child that I’m taking home. -10 minutes.
Come home. Daughter is starving. I give her a bowl of sliced mixed fruit---watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon. Her cross-bite braces fall out. This, I might add, on the same day of her dental appointment. I call the pediatric dentist…they’re closed and won’t open up again until Monday. I am very irritated. My daughter is very upset. I drive over there…maybe they’re there and aren’t answering their phones? A dental staff meeting? No, they’re not. -45 minutes.
I’ve calmed down my daughter. I fix supper, feed the kids, and I go to the Brownie meeting with the glue. The co-leader’s helpers for the evening have not shown up. Because I’m the other leader, I stay there until the other helpers show. -25 minutes (and very high blood pressure gauged. )
Everyone has these days come along…whether you’re in an office or retired, or a mom of small kids. I wrote when I could. I read the revisions when I could. Unfortunately, this day was out of my control.
So….we’ll stay up later than we planned. Get up a little earlier. It’s important…to us. Don’t play catch-up every night, but this is writing. And for everyone addicted to the writing process, we’ll squeeze some time out of the craziness to get it done.