Randomly Pulling Kids from School

I'm sitting here, struggling with an impulse to call ChowderGirl's school and have her dismissed so I can take her to a 12:30 showing of the Harry Potter movie. It's not just because she read all 7 books last year. And that she continues to haul 2-3 of them (in hardcover) to school with her every day.

It's because starting around 5th grade, my father pulled me from school once or twice a year to go mid-week skiing. The way I remember it, he would sort of taunt us. Because the biggest question was "Do you have any tests this week?" Well, he'd start asking in September. But the question became loaded when it snowed.

Because it meant that some day that week, our mom would wake us around 4 or 5AM, send us down to the already packed car. My dad would be sitting there, warming it up, chugging a Thermos of coffee. My brother and I would get in the backseat and go back to sleep.

It must have been the same time of year because we would wake around dawn, just when we pulled off the highway to get breakfast at some random McDonald's in New Hampshire. There's a stretch of Route 8 in Connecticut that looks just like the off ramp and whenever we go by there, I get this content feeling.

We'd ski all day and all that jazz. And I am sure we fought. I am sure my dad snapped at us. I am sure we were cranky. And annoying. And whiny. I also know there were times of great teamwork, sunshine, snow tans, ease, and skill. And I remember how shocking it was (that first time) to be pulled from school and how great it was to spend that day with my dad.

So I'm sitting here thinking about how much my daughter loves Harry Potter. And I'm going to go get her now.

Struggling with Juggling

On the one hand, things have gotten much easier for me, between the shift to working at home and ChowderDad's new much more local job. I've got more ability to do things when I need to do them, have fewer work distractions in the office, and honestly, my responsibilities there have shifted where I'm no longer carrying the true weight of a VP of a start up. And that's all been good.

But I skimmed over a phrase or two in there - and they're pretty important. It's about my ability to do things when I need to do them.

I have a lot of trouble with that piece. Never been my strong suit. On my list of things to do, which now include more household stuff, more kid stuff, and the same work stuff (minus some burdens of ultimate power and responsibility), I don't always have a good sense of what is actually important.

Like getting the tree guy over here to give me an estimate. Or signing up to do the Mill River Guide program for ChowderGirl's class. Or revising 200 Power Points. Or painting the hallway.

And then the kids get home and I'm honestly not sure how to handle it sometimes. I need to work. But I need to be with them too.

I've started to figure out how to plan things better. I need to arrange a Monday-Tuesday Mother's Helper for after school so I can power through the bulk of my work early in the week. So I can feel good about Wednesday afternoons being hiking day. Or taking lunch with a friend on a Friday.

I'm getting there.One major recent step was NOT VOLUNTEERING to coach Odyssey of the Mind. I'm pretty proud of NOT doing that.

Also, I might be late to Mill River today. I have to finish this Power Point. And this blog entry.

(The best part about this entry is that I wrote it on Wednesday and totally forgot to post it.)