A Busy Week In 7 Quick Takes

Some weeks are really productive. Effortlessly productive. Others, not so much. Take a wild guess as to which kind I’ve had this week.

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First there were the snow days. Which don’t match up from school to school, of course. Then there’s the round-and-round-and-round process of figuring out what feedback I need on my novel, and how to get it. And just when I get everybody back to school, it’s IEP time. An IEP meeting, for the uninitiated, goes over the entire package of academics and the breakdown of services–what, by whom, how long, etc.–and lays out the goals for the next twelve months of learning. Since it only happens once a year, naturally this means it’s a llllllooooonnnnng meeting. It took us an hour and a half. And I had the three youngest children along, to add to the fun. Good thing it’s a school with plenty of iPads to go around. That could’ve gotten ugly with only our iPad.

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Oh yes, and then we had dental appointments on Thursday. It was everything I have come to expect from a visit in which Julianna has to interact with medical personnel. Michael, who is glued to my side, watched the whole thing, of course. And then he didn’t want That Lady going anywhere near his mouth, either! Fun times, I’m telling you. And afterward I had to drop kids off late at school–three kids, three schools. By the time I got home I was shot, and it was only 10:30 a.m.!

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Nonetheless, school has started up again…in fits and starts. The parochial school started before the other two. The eve of Alex returning to school, I called his piano teacher to check whether he had piano lessons after school. She sent an email the next morning saying we could have a lesson or start the following week; either way the # of lessons would be the same–we’d just make it up later. To illustrate how I deal with my life, this was my thought process upon receiving this email:

1. Alex didn’t take his piano books to school. Forget it, we’ll wait a week. That way I can trade carpool days for tomorrow, when I have Julianna’s IEP meeting at the same time I’m supposed to be picking up kids.

2. Wait a minute. Julianna’s not in school today.

3. Julianna’s school gets snarky about taking kids out of school early.

4. I don’t have to take her out of school early for a lesson if we have it today.

5. That will be one less time I have to feel guilty and get kids up early from nap to facilitate pickup on lesson day.

6. We’re having a lesson today.

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I will say, however, that it continues to rock my world, how easy life seems when I’m going from point A to points B-Z without having to worry about changing diapers before or after. I feel several pounds lighter…and I never even hauled diapers around. I know, I keep talking about it. I just can’t get over it.

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Did you guys see this one? I love our new pope. He’s so real, so right down here in the trenches. (Sighs contentedly.)

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Does anybody else still have their Christmas decorations up? We do. Our tree is raining needles, it’s so dry. But it’s been nice to have it to look at. The house always seems so bare after the decorations go down. I did put away the Christmas music, but we’re still lighting the outdoor lights every night. (It’s jus so easy with remote switches! We don’t have to go outside to do it!

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Just so we’re clear…