Friday, March 16, 2007

Not-at-home-mommy

Stay-at-home-mom? Whoever coined the phrase is nuts...or completely anti-social. One or the other, which I'd evaluate on a case-by-case basis. S and I are never home, and our out-and-about routine nearly gave me an anxiety attack today. On the must-do list today: go to the grocery (pesky black bananas) and take Otis to the vet (pesky ear infections). On the want-to-do list: go to the newly-joined Y to work out, vacuum the floors, bake the muffins I didn't get to yesterday, shower. All in all, it's not a complicated task list. After all, there is a grocery store about 300 yards from the Y, and the vet is actually between home and the Y. Totally do-able, right? Is anything ever that simple? Not around here. The nursery at the Y is apparently packed from about 9-11:30 because that's when the good classes are offered. I wanted to go when S was one of the only babies. (It was mildly traumatic to leave her.) That meant that I needed to go after 11:30, but I needed to get there in time to workout before the nursery closed for lunch at 1:15 (it reopens at 3:15). For those of you making a mental time line, Otis's appointment was at 2. That two hour gap meant that I couldn't just take Otis to the Y and leave him in the car because 45 minutes is an eternity with a fussy baby. I also couldn't use that time to go to the grocery because Otis, S, the groceries, the doggie gate, and I won't all fit into the car at once without some finagling. So, here's how it went down:

S and I headed across town to the Y around 10:50. I'd looked at the class schedule, and it looked like all the classes were over by 11:05 on Fridays. Sweet. We got there around 11:15, and the parking lot was insanely packed. Not a huge problem. We headed to the grocery and got back to the Y around 11:45. Parking lot: nearly empty. I checked S into the nursery and hit the elliptical trainer. After working out for about 45 minutes, I realized that there was no way I would have time to get home, unload the car, put away the groceries, nurse the baby, change the baby, shower, wrangle Otis into his Gentle Leader, install the dog gate, load everyone into the car, and get back across town by 2. Great. Evil time constraints. Once again I find myself in need of a time-turner...or a helicopter. By the time I got S picked up and into the car, it was 12:50. By the time we got home, it was 1:10. Dreams of de-stanking myself before the vet trip were gone. Luckily, S was asleep in the car, so I was able to run the groceries into the kitchen, get all the stroller and baby-related paraphernalia out of the car, and put up the gate before she realized what was happening. Once she came to, she remembered that she was hungry. I nursed and changed her in record time. I popped her into her swing and put away the groceries. I tricked Otis into his Gentle Leader and ran him to the car. I packed up the baby, grabbed the diaper bag and a pet insurance claim form, and hopped in the car at 1:45. We were only 4 minutes late. Of course, the vet's office was running behind so all the rushing made no difference to anyone. Such is life...


Since then, I have managed to shower, do a load of laundry, and bake muffins. I decided I don't care if the floors get vacuumed today. I'm pooped...

FIVE SENSES FRIDAY
Sight:: M and S chilling on the sofa

Sound:: P-family dance party mix

Smell:: garlic and onions sauteeing

Taste:: peanut butter sandwich with grapes and strawberries

Touch:: clean Otis fur

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is one of the best entries yet! Congratulations on accomplishing an organizational feat of this magnitude! You are one impressive babe. So is S. M's not bad either...