Uncle

(Subtitle: The Second Dropped Ball In Ten Days)

So much for the day off I wrote about in yesterday's post.  Not 15 minutes after I got up from the computer, a text came in from a friend: " Do we have a meeting tonight?"

And of course, we did.  Glad she was paying attention, because I'd forgotten about it completely, although it was in the back of my head as recently as last Friday afternoon.  I chair the committee, FFS--forgetting about the meeting meant that I hadn't sent out the usual reminder email about it, drafted the agenda, or written up the minutes from the last meeting yet (the latter is not usually my job, but the secretary missed last month's meeting.)  Guess how I spent my late afternoon and early evening?

The meeting went fine, actually--good attendance and very productive.  But it bugs the daylights out of me that I would have spaced on it entirely but for that text.  THERE IS TOO MUCH GOING ON RIGHT NOW.  

Just a small sampling of the things on the to-do list rattling around in my head at the moment:

*Draft field use charges for our town park (don't even ask why I have to do this, but it's legitimate, not meddling)
*Collect money for Thing One's teacher's end of year class gift (class mom)
*Get gifts for Thing Two and Petunia's teachers
*Gather agenda items for the next school board subcommittee meeting
*Get the town summer camp's art supplies out of my basement
*Buy ice cream toppings for Thing One's G&T party, Italian ices for his regular class end of year party, condiments for Thing Two's baseball picnic, and dishwasher detergent before we run out and have a domestic crisis
*Take my car in for service
*Get straight which of the kids' schools has half days on which days between now and the end of the school year
*Buy birthday presents for two birthday parties
*Make arrangements for the dog to be boarded when we go away this weekend
*RSVP for the school graduation ceremony (must attend as BOE member)
*Get sitter for said school graduation ceremony
*Fold four loads of laundry
AND
*Have a full-blown stress fit

This doesn't even include keeping up with three kids' worth of the regular daily routine...homework, activities, cleaning, etc.

The end of the year is always insane, but this is as bad as it's ever been.  And in fairness, I do have to admit that a lot of it is my own fault: I don't have to be a class mom or the chair of this, that and the other thing.  Usually things space themselves out a little better, though!  Right now I am just getting hammered.
 
This being the case, I identify a LOT with Jen Hatmaker, who recently wrote a blog post entitled Worst End Of School Year Mom Ever.  This has gone viral on Facebook.  Seriously, if you have small kids (or probably even bigger kids), go read it.  If at least some parts of it don't make you cringe in recognition, I want to know your secret.

This was the part that really did it for me:

"The emails coming in for All Of The Things – class gift, end of year letters, luncheon signup, party supplies, awards ceremonies, pictures for the slide shows, final projects – are like a tsunami of doom. They are endless. I mean, they will never ever end. There is no end of it. I will never finish and turn it all in and get it to the (correct) Room Mom and get it all emailed and I am pretty sure the final week of school will never be over and this is the end for me.
 
Brandon:
 
“You don’t have to do all that, you know. Just blow it off.”
 
Me, staring blankly:
 
“Well, what a lovely thought you’re having there in your brain. How nice for you to be thinking that thought. I want to live in your imaginary world where my failure to do the School Stuff doesn’t mean our kid is the only one not wearing a purple shirt or didn’t have his pictures in the slideshow or didn’t bring in a handmade card for his teacher like every other student. I’ll just ‘blow it off’ and our kids can work it out with their therapists later.”
 
“Touchy.”

 'Tsunami of Doom' is a great description of my inbox.  And I don't want my kids to be the only ones left out either.  Thank God we aren't having to do school projects or make costumes right now or that would absolutely, no question, be the end of me!  

Enough already...