Diapers and Dragons

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Notes from the Overwhelmed

There are days when I should just crawl back under the covers and shut out the world.

Today would be one of those days.

But I have these pesky things called children and students and responsibilities that mean that I crawled OUT of bed this morning, showered, dressed, comforted a weepy Widget until his whininess and clinginess drove me out of my mind, somehow got two children dressed, got in the car (remembering a can of soup on the way out the door for a fabulous lunch), drove them to daycare, pried The Widget off my legs and into the arms of the caretaker, drove to school, and started work.

All with no real voice to speak of, ha ha ha. I have been struck down by the dreaded Laryngitis Lament, which means I'm croaking and squeaking my way through everything. It would be funny if it didn't Suck.

The Widget is also coughing and sneezing a bit, but seems fine otherwise (healthwise: Mama's Boy clinginess-wise he's off the charts) and insisted he was okay for school, and I wanted to believe him because I'm already halfway through my sick days this year because of him. And we haven't even finished the first marking period. I'm crossing my fingers that I don't get a call from daycare saying he has to go home.

Yes, I am that parent. You may hate me now.

The Widget has always been a Mama's Boy, and there are times when it drives me absolutely around the bend. Of course it tends to manifest itself most strongly when I have Many Things To Do, such as get us all ready and out the door in the morning. I may have found my voice temporarily this morning when he nearly tripped me down the stairs with his compulsive grasp of my legs. I also was less than patient with DramaBoy's langorous approach to getting out of bed. I've been trying to encourage him to dress himself in the mornings, and he's been doing fairly well, but today...

It's a good thing we're not graded on our parenting based just on one day, or I'd be getting at most a D.

I am now getting Creative with Teaching because I can barely be heard by the students in the front rows, so discussion involving me is Out. Thankfully I don't have my juniors today, because they are the ones who need the most verbal squashing and/or encouragement. My sophomores are handling group discussions about The Scarlet Letter quite well, and my Myth students conveniently just finished reading the myth of Hercules, so I'm moving up my compare/contrast project: I'll show them Disney's version of Hercules and they will keep track of all the ways Disney Got It Wrong. Try it sometime. Just be ready for some writer's cramp.

Oh, and I am now a sexy redhead. My beloved stylist trimmed my overabundant hair last night and gave me my winter-time color, and my hair looks awesome. (I know, my modesty and humility astonishes even me at times.)

*

Even if I feel like a piece of warmed-over week-old fish.

Sometimes this whole Being An Adult gig blows.

------------------------------
*This gives you a vague idea of my new hair color. It's actually a little redder and more vivid, but this lighting is less than flattering. This is also the reason why I am not showing my face. Between the flourescents and my crappy cell phone camera, I LOOK like a piece of warmed-over week-old fish.

8 bits of love:

Liz K said...

Nice hair! I always wanted red hair, but am too chicken to dye it! And good luck with that no voice thing! I was there just a couple of days ago...not fun with little guys and no daddy around!

michelle said...

We working moms sometimes have to send our sick kids to daycare and school. That's just the way it is. Don't sweat it.

wv: fersh
a contraction for sexy red haired warmed over week old fish

Unknown said...

This is the day for that stack of dittos that you keep in a drawer in the back of the room. Vocabulary word searches and crosswords and such. I remember them well...

Unknown said...

So...ah...does dad ever take a day off of work to stay home with sick children? Of course, this dad is ALWAYS home with children, so my view is kinda skewed. But, the Boss will take time off for doctors visits and such. Just askin'...

Stone Fox said...

if only we could call a time-out for life, hey? all you'd have to do was yell TIME OUT! and life would stop. it would be so awesome for those days like today where the kids are whiny, moms aren't feeling well, the weather sucks, etc..

and, i LOVED watching movies in school; even if we had to compare/contrast between the book and the movie, it was very cool to watch TV at school. i think this definitely makes you A Teacher Who Is Awesome.

also, great color for your hair - even with crappy cell phone image it looks really warm.

mom said...

Nice hair!
I'm writing this comment after having already read your newer blog. But I want you to know that you have my sympathy re: the voiceless tired frustrated mommy thing. So hard, some mornings. My heart also goes out to the Widget, who misses you and is probably reacting to all the changes, weekly, in his life. Two of us would love to be around to receive some of his clingy hugs! And langourous Dramaboy reminds me of someone I love very much (bet you can't guess who!). Please, give them extra hugs from me tonight. And give yourself one too!

Draft Queen said...

My hair is red. Except when I turn it purple. (And those random gray hairs I keep pulling out.)

Redheads? Are trouble. Or so I've heard.

Feel better soon.

MomZombie said...

Your life sounds like my life right now. Every single bad thing that can possibly happen keeps happening. And it's all because everything absolutely needs to be running smoothly in order to work.
Even my painted-on smile is flaking off.
On a lighter note, I like the red.

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Wait! Where Are You Going?

Wait! Where Are You Going?
 
Clicky Web Analytics