A Bad Week

The act of writing this post is serving as a microcosm for the week I have had, and am still having. I have written this twice, and both times my computer has crashed before I have saved it or posted it. You would think that the second time I would be smart enough to save every few lines, but the thing about a bad week is, those are the times you can’t call upon your common sense reserves to help you out.

Usually when I’m seriously stressed, although occasionally when things are well, I look at my life like a game piece from Trivial Pursuit.  You know, the round thing into which you put all your pies, or wedges, or cheeses or whatever your family has nicknamed them. Each wedge respresents a different responsibility: family, house (as in the building), friends, work, community obligations, me, and an extraneous, seasonal wedge for whatever may come up. I don’t remember  a time when all the little cheeses were humming along smoothly. I can’t imagine that ever happening in the real world. I’m OK as long as they don’t all implode at the same time.  But sometimes, the whole pie falls apart and not one of those little slices is willing to just hang on until I can get the others back onto a state of equilibrium.

That’s what has happened this week. I usually work 60% which translates into every other day; but, this week I had to work every day in order to prepare for and administer the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. It may sound whiny to people who actually work full time, but since I don’t, the extra days added quite a bit of stress to my other wedges. Not to mention the fact that nothing went smoothly at work itself, including an unexpected phone call from parents who want to discuss their son’s report card. These things always go well in the end and usually shed some importantly light on something I didn’t know about the student, but after 18 years of meeting with parents, I still get highly anxious.

Since I have been at work all week, and my family has lost the ability to put things away in my absence, my house is a disaster, we have no groceries and the laundry is starting to procreate.

I’m also failing in the friendship wedge. A very special friend had her third little boy this week and I will probably not make it over with an extra set of hands and a frozen casserole until next week sometime. I had to cancel a dinner with someone else. And although I absolutely loved the greatest event ever thrown, MOM’S NIGHT OUT! I was exhausted and had to be the party pooper with a great group of gals in my neighbourhood I have come to know and like an awful lot. (PS – Huge Kudos to Jen for most well organized, fun and truly pamperiffic evening!)

I could write extensive paragraphs on all the other things I have not done, or not done well this week but that would just take away more time from actually trying to dig myself out of this pie crumbling hell. Let’s just sum it up with the fact that the "me" wedge didn’t even get a cursory nod in the diet, exercise or sleep department.

I need a weekend alone and at school to at least get my fingers on what needs to be done to get caught up, maybe. But the parents are coming in at 3:30 to chat and when I get home Mr. Husband will be sitting in the car, waiting to go up north while I run around packing for the kids and myself and putting together our costumes so I can spend the weekend alternating between having fun with my family and fretting about all the chaos I have left behind.

Ahhh to be a mom!