i'm a hot mess...

This one's for you, Tad.

I feel spread thin. The expectations on me just being a wife and a mom to four boys are enough to weigh me down on any given day. But then you have those days when the stars align just right, and an evening that was supposed to move at a tolerable pace is sped into super warp speed! Hence my story of "Cluster Night" at Elijah's school...

Much like electives in high school, Elijah is able to pick an "Enrichment Cluster" to study. This period he has chosen the SPACE CLUSTER...pretty neat! So, he gets in the car one Monday and keeps mentioning something about a "digidome". I keep correcting him and call what he is talking about a "planetarium"...we eventually both just give up and move on to something else. I start dinner. Elijah comes in saying that he has to be back at school for "Cluster Night". I knew they were having this, but in the past they didn't have an activity for Kindergarten, so I hadn't put it in the plans. I text his teacher, and sure enough...it starts at 6:30pm. It's now 5:45pm, perfect. Tad walks in the door and I explain our new plans. We scarf down dinner (tasting takes too much time...chew and swallow, chew and swallow, kids!) I have a PTO meeting at 7pm across the street from the school, so we are going to have to take separate cars. I am Treasurer of our PTO which I think at most schools is bestoyed upon an organized and detail oriented parent who has a PhD in Accounting...I don't think I ever balanced my checkbook...ha! So, I have this notebook with all my PTO stuff in it, and it's on nights like tonight that things like this decide to go missing. My mood quickly escalates from "gosh, darn, where is that silly notebook" to "*&*!" @%&$*?@##!" I search the bookshelf, the car, the filing cabinet, heck, I search the laundry basket!...nothing. I was seriously about to call in sick when I hear "Mom, is this it?". My sweet Elijah found it...on the bookshelf. I send Tad off with the 2 older boys, and tell him I'll meet him there...I have to freshen up. Now, if you know me, you know that make-up and hair that is brushed aren't top priorities...but I at least change out of my shirt which is full of spit up and apply some deodorant. By the time I get to school, I'm late. I park and realize my only options for child carrying are an umbrella stroller and a 20 pound baby carrier. I strap Joel into the stroller and hook the carrier under my arm. My bag with the infamous notebook and my diaper bag are toted on my shoulder. In order to walk, I can only use one hand to push the stroller while the other holds the carrier...this makes it very difficult to steer the stroller! The gate is closed to go directly into school so my quickest point of entry is manuevering between the dumpster and the fence...I manage. OK, almost there, just have to go across the blacktop to the first of 3 sets of doors I am going to have to try and open in order to get into the cafeteria.

I'm out of breath.

As I make my way across the asphalt, my dear sweet friend Jennifer sees my distress and comes to my rescue. She takes the stroller and we get to the cafeteria with no problem...thanks Jenn! I get into the cafeteria and there in the middle of the floor is a ...."digidome" ! It's like a big balloon that you sit in and the sky is projected on the roof. It's about 7 feet high and 15 feet wide. It's inflatable. It's closed. The teacher on duty outside of the "digidome" announces my arrival to the teacher on the inside and they unzip the small crawl space I am now supposed to enter through while carrying a 2 year old and a 20 pound baby carrier. I stick my head in...it's absolutely pitch black. Parents and students line the perimeter...I can't see them. I sheepishly say "Tad?" hoping he is close to the opening. "Back here". He and the boys are at the furthest most point of the dome...I can't see them either. I begin stepping over parents, teachers, students...

I'm out of breath.

I sit down, apologize to everyone, and check my indiglo watch...6:45pm, perfect. The teacher goes through her lesson of constellations and the phases of the moon. This "digidome" thing is really neat! I look down at my watch again...7pm. I now have to excuse myself from the dome in reverse fashion in order to get to my meeting that I am now late for. I wait until the last possible second and begin my trek back across the dome. I exit...somehow, and head over to my next engagement. That night when I got home, Tad and I were recapping the events of the night. He thought my dome experience was pretty funny. In hindsight, I did too. I don't pretend to have it all together, but nights like that don't do me any favors in at least hiding the fact that "I'm a hot mess"...