The Long Road Ahead of Us
I mean that title literally.. “the long road ahead of us”. The company that I work for recently moved 50 miles away from where they were previously located, and from where I currently live. The commute started yesterday. It took close to an hour.
Typically, I’m not the type to complain. If it was just myself that I had to worry about, I wouldn’t even bother mentioning it. But the fact remains that this seems like another wrench thrown into this single parent’s plea for sanity and a slightly less busier life.
Yesterday morning, I dropped my son off at 1st grade at 7:30 am. I have to give my company a little bit of credit here; they are allowing a slightly flexible schedule to accomodate for having set times when I can drop him off and when I can pick him up. All in all, I’m only missing out on an hour of work each day. An hour that I can easily make up in the evenings from home.
As I started my commute though, it gave me an hour to think about my life as it currently stands today.
My Daily Schedule:
6:00 am - wake up
6 - 7:20: Get Sebastian up, cook breakfast, iron clothes that I was too tired to iron the night before, pack up lunch(PB & J just isnt the same sitting overnight as I’ve been informed) and get out of the door.
7:30: Drop Sebastian off at school
7:30 - 8:30: Drive. Now, this is the part of my schedule that used to be easy. 10 minute drive to work, no problem.
8:30 - 4:30 : Work (don’t we all?)
4:30 - 5:45: Drive home
5:45: This is where it gets interested. Screech into the parking lot of after care 10 minutes before they close. Rush Sebastian into the bathroom to change into his football gear. Curse myself for forgetting to bring a water bottle and adding another 5 minutes between here and football to stop and get water. Run out the door, zoom through the gas station.
6:00: Arrive at football
8:00: Practically run from football to our home. Get Sebastian in the shower, cook dinner, check his homework, get him ready for bed (teeth, book, etc).
9:00 - until?: Make up the hour that I’ve missed at work, clean the house, write various emails/press releases/online promotion spots for my start-up PR business.
Somewhere after midnight: Crash into bed only to realize that I’m still so wound up, I cannot fall asleep.
It would be fantastic if I knew I wasn’t the only one with this sort of schedule. Does anyone else out there feel like a madwoman just keeping up with everyday life with a child?
Exhausting, pleasurable, determined.. and oh so much fun
November 7th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Found you through Evan Marc Katz, nice guy.
You are NOT the only one! My son is 10 years old and our lives are ridiculous. He started middle school this year and is currently a latchkey kid. He seems so little and I hate that he has to wait at home for 2.5 hours after school until I get to him. But such is life. We do the best we can, right?
November 18th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Oh, wow. I had that sort of schedule and I worked just a few miles from my house! I’d have to drop the King of Everything at school at 7:15, get to work at 8AM, leave at 5PM, though it was usually closer to 5:30… rush to get the boy before aftercare closed at 6:30, then dinner, bath and bed… and he was only three. I feel for you.
May 13th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Hi,
No, you are not alone! My life is very similar to yours! I have a 7 year old who’s dad is not in the picture, a full time job, and a start-up website business (http://www.cool-kids-places.com/), that I attend to after my son goes to sleep at 9:00pm!
As one crazy-schedule-mom to another, I have a few suggestions that have worked for me:
- I skip the “cooked breakfast” - I get something quick for both of us like a bagel or muffins and we eat in the car on our way to his school;
- I don’t wear any clothes that need ironing during the week, I buy the stuff that doesn’t need any ironing;
- Give my son “lunchables” for lunch or something else “ready to eat” on days that he doesn’t want to have the school cafeteria lunch;
- I drop him off at soccer and then go to the gas station or pick up a few quick things from the market;
- I pick up some cooked food from the market or Chinese on days that we get home late.
Hope that helps!