Robert Burns was right…
But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o’ mice an ‘men
Gang aft agley,
An’lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!Still thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me
The present only toucheth thee:
But, Och! I backward cast my e’e.
On prospects drear!
An’ forward, tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!—– Excerpt from To a Mouse on Turning Up Her Nest with a Plough
Is it possible that it is really Monday? Are we 100% positive and sure that I was not SO exhausted last night that I completely slept through Monday and now today is Tuesday?
Let me back up. Prince was not home much of this weekend. Friday and much of the day Saturday he was doing (and I quote my own mother here) “Guy-Car-Things” and Sunday he was babysitting. Ok, not a problem. I had a plan, there was fun to be had and it was going to be a good weekend. Only, my plan failed.
It began simple enough, on Friday, while Duke was in school, I was to get the laundry done. Only it didn’t happen. I can’t quite recall why, but alas, the loads of laundry were not complete when I left to pick the child up from school. But that’s ok, he wouldn’t care if the laundry was done and we could continue on with plan A, anyway. See, how flexible I am? Only, when Duke came home from school he was exhausted from his day of play. I mean lay his head down in his dinner kind of tired. (While laughing at a the cheese slice stuck to his forhead is FUN, it isn’t keeping with the plan.) So, I pulled out plan A.5 — dinner of SNACKS (see, I can be the FUN parent) and go to bed early. Wow, do I know how to party or what?
Saturday began so CLOSE to Plan A. We woke, we snuggled, we had breakfast. Only thing is that Duke was in no mood to get dressed or do more than watch Dirty Jobs. (I’m beginning to think he is Mike Rowe’s biggest fan.) So, I moved to plan B, now. Instead of running out in the morning we’d hang out, eat lunch, nap, and then run out — followed by a special Queen/Duke dinner OUT — like in public, together! Only, Duke didn’t choose to take his nap until 2pm and slept until 5pm. During which time, Prince calls and says, “I’m on my way home” (Note, this is a mere 8 hours earlier than I expected him home and he was calling to say he was 2.5 hours away. Ok, let’s go to Plan B.5) So, I promise to hold off on dinner until he arrives. When 2.5 hours turned into 4+, let’s just say, I was over it. We did all go out to dinner, in public, but it was later than I had planned, which in reality was ok, because Duke had SLEPT until 5pm. Ok, sort of back on track to Plan B and life is getting better.
Then Sunday, happened. Despite going to bed at 9pm (a full 2 hours after his normal bedtime), Duke was bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 6AM. Full of energy as it were. More than his Mama could muster. Alright, no problem. I could go with Plan C, now. We’d get up, breakfast, dress, run out for an errand, pick up lunch, play, come home and nap. Only, I forgot one flaw in my plan — DUKE. He didn’t want to dress. He didn’t want to leave the cat alone. He didn’t want to stop that. He didn’t…He didn’t… Ok, I regroup. We get him dressed, me dressed and head out only about an hour later than I had planned. So, I decide to re-order a few of the plans, grab lunch, head off to the errand, nap and THEN go out to play. Only… I got food, I head down to the errand to find a back-up on the ONLY road to get there that looked horrible and I couldn’t take the traffic. So, I turned the car around, headed home for what now was looking like Plan E: Lunch, Nap, Errand, Play. Ok, no problem. ONLY, there was NO napping in Duke’s plan. His plan was lunch, run around in circles, attempt to be quiet in his room for like a second, chase a dog, chase a cat, sit in my lap, meltdown four times, and ask 90 billion tough questions like, “Daddy, RU?” to no one in particular. Ok, time to regroup again. I think I may have been up to Plan Q before the day ended. We never ran the errand, we never went out to play (when asked later by Prince “Why not, that’s probably what he needed most.” I was forced to say, “He was a child on the edge — one mis-step and it would have been over — and frankly, I’m not sure I’m strong enough right this second to deal with that one.”) So, after turning down my fine dinner, he took a LONG bath, and went to bed at his appointed bedtime. Should I mention that he was SOUND ASLEEP within 15 minutes? (Yes, there was a mother dancing around the living room quietly once sleep was confirmed, why do you ask?)
So, let’s review,
- Plan’s Accomplished: 0
- Plan’s Revised: More than I count
- People with their head in the oven: 0
I declare the weekend a success!
(For those of you keeping track at home, the laundry is being done today; errand will be run tomorrow as the place is closed today; and I full intend to stop lettering my plans by this upcoming weekend.)
August 21st, 2006 at 10:51 am
I hear you. We went out for dinner on Sat. night, Simon got to bed at 9:15 am and was wide awake at 5:22 am, somewhere near his normal wake up time. THAT is why we don’t keep the kids up late!
He was also turning circles (perpetual motion allows them not to sit down and therefore, not to go to sleep) but did take a nap.
Good luck with getting all your errands done today.
August 21st, 2006 at 2:53 pm
No joy in Snarkville, is there? Actually, I bet there was lots of joy after you dropped off Duke at school this morning. We, however, still have no joy at my house – not sure when it will be back! Good luck with Laundry Mountain.