Welcome back to 20 Days of Chill. Today's prompt is
Oh, thank goodness!
The obvious thing would be to think, oh, thank goodness - this writing challenge has come to an end, and normal life resumes.
No. I enjoyed using the little time I had to create content.
And yes, it was a crazy busy month, of which I spent a week at home with my son who caught chicken pox, while still trying to meet work deadlines and other commitments.
Today is Tuesday.
Around lunchtime my son's hockey club's manager posted "off-ice is cancelled".
We use TeamApp, and it's divided into
- Lost & Found shower towels, single socks, sweatpants, elbow pads, water bottles, even school bags, the list is endless.
- Delays "Heavy traffic", *my kid's class ends at 4:10pm, he'll be late for practice"
- Short-term messages is there any other kind?
- Van Drivers for away games that are a 2-3 hours' drive, only people with a specific license may drive
- Buffet Duty Swap parents need to bring cakes and sandwiches to home games, and the most unpopular job is to man the buffet. It includes making hotdogs and coffee, and you need to be there early to set up and stay late to clean up and put everything away. Plus you miss the game.
- Car Pooling for parents who have more than one hockey playing kid, and both, or all three of them have a game . In a different town, at the same time.
So on any given day there's a bunch of messages, most of which don't concern you, and it's easy to miss one if you're not looking at your phone often.
Anyway, I saw it and didn't think much of it, except
"Typical - now that the bag is packed you're telling me we don't need the sneakers, the extra sweater, you name it."
"Good thing I didn't make plans for dinner."
Off-ice is cancelled means the kids are ready for pickup a good 45 minutes earlier, and that's when I was waiting for Colin who promptly emerged. You see, his new year's resolutions included speeding up his getting dressed process.
We were on our way to the car when my phone rang.
A lovely fellow hockey Mom who sounded somewhat distressed.
She was in the train home from work and only just realized her son didn't know she wouldn't make it in time to pick him up.
Unfortunately my car can't fit in two boys with their gigantic hockey bags and sticks. She knows this and was just hoping I could find and tell her son he needed to take the bus, which I was happy to do, and he was happy to oblige.
I was especially glad to return the favour because she and her husband had saved my butt big time one night when I was stuck in traffic and they took Colin to their house. (Read the lengthy back story here),
It doesn't sound like much, but it's so great to know your kid is being taken care of by people you love and trust when you can't be there yourself.
Now in tonight's case, shouldn't my friend say oh, thank goodness?
Nah.
She did anyway and offered to treat me to lunch one of these days us busy ladies may actually make it happen to get together.
"It's not easy to manage that hockey and working - hats off to you for making it work!" She said.
Well, here's the difference between Claire and I:
- She has three boys, two of which play hockey - in different age categories, meaning they never have practice or games at the same time.
- Both she and her husband work about an hour from home
- She just recently upped her work commitment to four days a week.
- Both their parents live in England
- I have one kid and may focus on him alone.
- Both hubby and I work five minutes from home.
- I work 2.5 days a week, plus, since I work for hubby, I get to leave early to drive Colin to practice. Of course I work late on other days. Or I go in on my days off.
- My parents live at the same village.
So it's definitely my turn to say oh, thank goodness for my comfortable situation thanks to my support system! And hats off to my friend and all the other Moms and Dads who are working their butts off to make it happen.
Juggling responsibilities as working parents is probably the hardest chapter in our lives.
And let's not forget to be thankful for not having to hunt for food...
And that's a wrap!
How did you like this 20 Days of Chill Challenge? Any special post or topic that stood out to you? One last time, may I ask you to visit my fellow bloggers' posts over here.
A special thank you to P.J. aka A 'lil Hoohaa, who has been hosting this challenge!
Thursday, January 2: A new decade
Friday, January 3: Beautiful places
Monday, January 6: Is that chicken?
Tuesday, January 7: Show me the way
Wednesday, January 8: Naps
Thursday, January 9: Snow
Friday, January 10: Fri-Yay
Monday, January 13: Social Media
Tuesday, January 14: Cheddar
Wednesday, January 15: Dream on
Thursday, January 16: Popcorn
Friday, January 17: Snapshot
Monday, January 20: Last Meal
Tuesday, January 21: Battle of the Phones
Wednesday, January 22: Sign it in ink
Thursday, January 23: Spam
Friday, January 24: May I take your order?
Monday, January 27: A cocktail, if you will
Tuesday, January 28: Bring me to you
Wednesday, January 29: Oh, thank goodness!
all the things we have to do.... keep it up Tamara... best wishes to you and your family :)
ReplyDeleteYes there are lots of "oh thank goodness" moments but we tend to forget. You are one busy mama and just think if you had 2-3 boys or worked 40+ hours a week. It is an unappreciated job for sure.
ReplyDeleteGreat job working on all the 20 Days!
Dawn aka Spatulas On Parade
It's good how things worked out and that you could help another. And sometimes, as humans and society, I think many of us tend to forget about those little "thank goodness" things. It's good to realize sometimes how one has a better/easier situation than others and is willing to help out! Kudos!
ReplyDeleteAnd great job on the challenge this year! Other challenges to come!