Wednesday, May 13, 2015

The Longest Moment of Last Week

Time is relative, isn't it? I'm not talking about complicated science and math theories. I'm talking actual time. Like when your kid asks for a snack and you say "just a minute" but ten minutes later he's still hungry and you're still playing Candy Crush.

Or when you're waiting in line for the bathroom, and your daughter says she'll be done "in just a sec" but you're still doing a little shimmy five minutes later.

It's messed with my ability to gauge time. I have a hard time deciding how long a car trip will take and what time we should leave. If we leave too early, the kids will have wait time and get antsy before the event. If When we leave too late, we'll be...late.

Sometimes time seems to stop completely and you are caught in a moment when you can't move or speak and you can't fix what's happened. You just don't know how to react.

This is exactly what happened to me last week. We had a lot of things scheduled, but I had them all in my calendar and in my head:
Monday-Violin concert for Frances 
Tuesday-Soccer practice for the boys
Wednesday: First Communion Rehearsal for Henry..NO WAIT! That's Tuesday!! OK, got that figured out on Monday, so everything is ok.
Thursday- Spring Showcase for Henry at school
Friday-Frances' Dance rehearsal
It was Thursday night and I sat down for what I thought was going to be a brief moment of peace after the kids had gone to bed. I took a deep breath and snuggled in to my corner of the couch. I flipped open my iPad and pulled up Facebook to see what important things were going on, and I saw this:

Surely I was reading something wrong because Frances' rehearsal was on Friday night...RIGHT?!?! I panicked and jumped up from the couch. Where was the paper with instructions so I could verify this?? Why can't I find one single piece of paper amidst all these scraps of permission forms and end-of-year announcements?!

Tweet This: Both the digital calendar and the calendar in my head had failed me!"

I tried another tactic. I jumped online to look it up. Ms. Cindy had said before that the info was on the city website. Of course, when you're in panic mode nothing loads fast enough and if felt like an hour before I came across the page I was looking for. Scan, scan, scan...Where is it!?!

I finally found what I was looking for and all time stopped. We. had. missed. rehearsal. I started to cry. In that moment I felt like the absolute worst mother in the history of mothers. How did this happen!?! I managed to get back over to Facebook and send a message to Ms. Cindy. I apologized profusely and explained that is was all my fault. I was afraid to ask what this meant, because I knew the rule "No rehearsal=No Performance."

I could see through the Facebook spies that Ms. Cindy had been "active 12 minutes ago." I waited for what seemed like an hour for her response. In that time all sorts of scenarios and emotions went through me. I felt stupid. I was angry at myself. I was ticked at that beautiful melon colored dress we'd bought that would never get worn.

And finally the response came: "Yes. It was tonight. Don't worry.  Concert is on Saturday.  Dancers arrive at 6:15. Show starts at 7."

And all was right with the world again.

Have you had a recent moment of panic?

This post was part of the One Word Blog Linkup hosted by, Janine of Confessions of a Mommyholic, Marica of Blogitudes, and Lisa of The Golden Spoons! This week, the word prompt choices were Crazy & Moment.


  1. Omg, you know I am Miss Forgetful and that's not forget how I missed the Kindergarten Orientation late last summer for Emma as I screwed up the days of the week with thinking it was Thursday not Tuesday of that same week. But like you in the end, all turned out fine, but still I definitely know this feeling well and you aren't alone not one bit.

  2. Oh, Rabia, I feel you! This whole week has been one big panic for me as I plan a fundraiser for Friday. I think it is starting to make me feel physically ill! You're human, though, and we all forget things or inadvertently mix them up in our minds. I'm glad it worked out in the end!

  3. Multiple times!!! When we were in London, I didn't get cell service. When we landed back in the US, my phone went crazy with several texts, missed calls, & voicemails. My oldest was supposed to have had an orthodontist appointment that week. I had forgotten about it so I hadn't called to cancel. I also misread the date on a softball registration form and missed the deadline to sign her up!!

  4. I had something like this on Monday. I completely spaced out my son's doctor's appointment until my reminder went off. His appointment was in 10 minutes. We were all still in pajamas and his doctor's office is 15 minutes away! We got there, I thought I was late, but it turned out that the appointment was for a half an hour later!

  5. I can't say that my digital calendar has failed me yet - not as long as I remember to put my appointments in it. That's where I make my mistakes. I put the appointment cards in my wallet meaning to put them onto my digital calendar ... but then I forget. And that's where the problem comes in... I rely on the digital calendar to remind me of my appointments. But alas, it no can do if I never entered them to begin with. :)

  6. Oh my gosh how scary! That's great the teacher was understanding. Things happen, even little things like forgetting dates. This is why I check my calendar like, 20 times a day to remind myself what I need to do lol.

  7. We just wrapped up a fundraiser, so I can clearly recall that anxiety in the week before. I've had too many irons in the fire, I'm not surprised I dropped something, but this one really made me panic for a moment!

  8. Oh gosh! I would hate being so far away and not being able to take care of things! Can she still do softball?

  9. Ugh! That has happened to me too many times to count! I put the reminders in early sometimes, but then I forget that it's early. I guess that's the point, huh?

  10. My problem is that I had written it on the wrong day, so the calendar wouldn't have helped at all.

  11. Ms. Cindy is THE BEST!!! And I had checked the schedule, I just put it on the wrong day!

  12. I remember that story! So stressful!!

  13. Ms. Cindy is the best!!! I think you'd still have run into Cassidy somehow. You guys have an interesting story anyway!!

  14. Once, we played a tournament out of town that occurred on the night the clocks fell back. Or was it spring ahead? Either way, we woke up when we should have been leaving for the field. We made it okay, though.

  15. That time of year always messes me up! Glad you made it on time!

  16. Me too! It was a really nice recital in the end. She remembered all her dance moves and everything was ok!



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