Juggling Work and Your Children’s Busy Lives: What to Do When You Drop a Ball
I’ve had my daughter’s dance schedule written in my planner for months. Monday and Tuesday: Ballet. Friday: Hip Hop.
On Monday of this week, I arrived with my daughter, Ylvie, to the dance studio promptly at 3:30 PM for her 3:45 PM class. I’d brought my work computer with me and got back to work as soon as we parked. By 3:43 PM, I noticed that none of Ylvie’s ballet friends had arrived.
How could that be?
I took a break from the code I was working on to double check Ylvie’s dance registration. Sure enough.
Tuesday and Wednesday: Ballet. Friday: Hip Hop. Not Monday and Tuesday!
In an instant, I beat myself up. If my thoughts had boxing gloves, I’d have two black eyes and missing teeth.
What is wrong with you?
How could you have gotten this wrong?
You’ve just wasted your time driving down here!
As I drove away, I asked myself, “What can I learn from this?”
1. Double check event date and times before leaving the house.
I’d written her ballet classes in my planner months ago. It would have been prudent to check the days and times again.
2. Don’t get so caught up in the details, you forget the big picture.
I was on point with getting her bun up, the right color of leotard for her new class level, finding hole-less tights, leaving on time, packing her snacks, packing my work computer, and packing her books to read while we wait. But the big picture? Like the actual time for the ballet class? I totally skipped confirmation of that important part.
3. Don’t be so hard on yourself.
Not only did I feel like an idiot, but I was furious with myself for wasting time. I have my days scheduled into 15-minute increments. I value my time like gold, but I’d blown 30 minutes driving to and from the studio.
But in the end, what’s the biggest lesson the universe is trying to teach me?
4. Chill out. It’s okay to make mistakes some time.
As we are all getting back into juggling work life and our children’s various school events, extracurricular activities, and play dates (not to mention birthday parties), let’s not be too hard on ourselves for not being one hundred percent perfect all the time. Sometimes, you need to drop the ball to realize getting the days wrong for ballet class is a tiny inconvenience in the big picture of working parent life.
