QUOTE OF THE DAY (OR MORE): "No, no. You don't understand. This is an '89 Calico. I'm pretty sure that exceeds the Kelly Blue Book value. The cat's totaled." --A comedian whose name I forget talking about a vet who presents a $3,000 bill for a 12-year-old cat

Friday, August 21, 2009

I just lost 3 1/2 hours of my life...

Okay, okay. I know everyone complains about this, yielding the cliched "mom's taxi" and "soccer mom" stereotypes, but I'm special, so suck it up. Mine is worse than yours.

Here was my night last night:



Do you get it with my superior mouse drawing skills?
I left my house at 5:20 to take the 11-year-old to soccer practice at Field A . I went back to my house at 6:30 to get 13-year-old into soccer gear and into the car (a painstaking process... where are your soccer socks? I asked you to be ready. I dunno. where are your cleats? I dunno. Did you prepare a water bottle as I suggested? um. no.). I drive the 13-year-old to soccer practice at Field B (the opposite end of town) to arrive at 6:55 pm. I go back to the house to get the dog at 7:20. I get the dog into the car (much easier than getting kids into the car... especially since no shoes are necessary) and drive to get 11-year-old, whose practice ends at 7:30. Its not making sense for me to go all the way home and then all the way across town again, I suggest to 11-year-old that we simply spend 1/2 hour at the dog park before picking up the 13-year-old at 8:30. 11-year-old agrees. We go to the dog park. (Run, Soph, run! Alas, it's 94 degrees out and, although there are lots of canines at the dog park, they are all pretty much sitting around just looking at each other, too hot to move. Usually when a new dog comes in, all the dogs run to sniff the butt of the newbie. Yesterday it was like: "yo, Hank. 'sup. I assume your butt smells the same?). 8:15. We leave the dog park and go to Field B to pick up 13-year-old. It's getting dark so I schlep the dog and 11-year-old to the opposite end of the field where practice is conveniently held to make sure 13-year-old can find me. 8:45. I have been driving among home, Field A, and Field B now for over 3 hours and I actually fed the kids dinner before soccer practices. I decided to throw my healthy eating habits (which lasted 24 hours, I think?) out the window and get blizzards for all.
How do you parents with more than 2 kids do it?
Let's do it again next week!

11 comments:

  1. I hear ya sista!! I have three kids and your scenario is exactly why, I dont have ALL of them in soccer. Just one. Of course, I just shot myself in the foot last week when I enrolled the boys in football, city league. So now on some Saturdays, I will have soccer games PLUS two football games. How do I do it? Dont know yet...this will the first time with all THREE in sports at the same time. The boys were both in baseball, and hubby and I tag teamed that one. Not so easy this time.....Ill let you know.

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  2. Moms with more than 2 kids pack Xanax Snacks for the trip.

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  3. Yeah. I think moms will more than 2 kids hire nannies and pop pills. Yeehaw!

    I would have been insane by the end of the day.

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  4. I know it's corny to say this, but I'm all about corny, so I will say this time will pass quickly. Not the actual day; but the days of being a taxi mom.
    I love that you know dog talk. 'Sup.

    HOW DO YOU DRAW THOSE PICTURES? They kill every time! :)

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  5. I call that busy mom syndrome. My last child is six years younger than my 4th child. When she was an infant we spent so much time in the car that she was "conditioned" to nursing while sitting and waiting. We could be home all morning and she'd never need to eat, but as soon as we got in the car she was ready. She would nurse as I waited at each school, and each lesson.

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  6. Last year:
    #1 in cheerleading, singing, dance
    #2 basketball, track
    #3 gymnastics, mediation
    #4 tang soo do
    #5 gymnastics (different time than #3), swimming

    This year:
    #1 college
    #2-#5 swimming. Period.

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  7. We have one extra-curricular activity which we ALL do AT THE SAME TIME. Driving too much makes me want to lie down and sleep forever. Kudos to you for your taxiing, because I just downright refuse.

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  8. I love that picture of you and Sophie heading your blog!! It's awesome. I don't know how moms of more than one do it so my hats off to you lady! And we have more in common than I thought - blizzards, mmmmmmmm.

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  9. One Sunday, two years ago, I drove 170 miles, from field to field, and never left the Columbus, Ohio area. I had one boy at a football game, another in a soccer tournament and the third in another soccer tournament. I saw 1/2 a football game and bits and pieces of several soccer games.

    Recently the boys have been more interested in guitar lessons than sports. (So, there's a lot less driving and once in a while someone will kick out a little bit of Rolling Stones.)

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  10. Wow! I am so lucky my youngest isn't old enough to play organized sports yet. Although when he is, I plan to keep him in the same league(s) as my older boy. I won't have to drive around too much, but I'll be stuck at the same field for hours, since the younger ones play earlier than the older ones. I already bought my Quick Shade canopy and my portable chairs with the beer holder. Oops I mean cup holder :-)

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  11. Gotta love nights like that. I expect a few of those shortly, now that school has started, and softball and girl scouts get into full swing. Ugh.

    Now I know how my dad felt.

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