11.5.10

The new routine.

I’m finally getting the hang of the new routine. But it’s been like training for a triathlon. I've been struggling with it, especially the part called Getting Ready for School. Apparently, I'm not able to do anything the night before. (Or set the alarm half an hour earlier.)

Waking up, getting Five dressed, getting him to eat something ANYTHING, packing his lunch, helping him decide what to bring for News. Getting dressed myself. I have rather cleverly (I think) been wearing my workout clothes to school, so (in theory) I can go for a run immediately after Drop-Off.

By the time Drop-Off is achieved, I need a six-hour break to recover. I don’t know why this is all so difficult for me. The other mums don’t seem to be having this problem. I think I need a vacation. (Alone. In Tahiti.) Or I need a car. Not that Five would let me drive him to school. He is obsessed with riding his bike, or his scooter.

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So Getting Ready is a mission (almost impossible). And I'm anxious during the Pick-Up. We live in a small, rural village. The parents of the junior students go to the school to Pick Up their kids. We enter the school grounds, and we sit (or stand around) while we wait for the kids. And we make small talk.

Most of these people are very nice. But it’s a lot of conversations about the weather, how the weekend was (or will be), admiring people’s younger (i.e., not yet school-aged) children. Most people want to spin a yarn with their acquaintances. I should enjoy talking to other adults IRL, right? RIGHT?

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I love weekends. My Mother’s Day was lovely. I lay in bed with my laptop and drank coffee, while my boys made me a pancake breakfast. Then I got to talk to my wonderful mother for almost TWO HOURS. And when the boys went to the park, I had the house to myself for ANOTHER HOUR. So, it was pretty much like Every Day. Without Getting Ready for School. Which was bliss.

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BTW, thank you for your kind comments on my last post. I was traumatised by the allergy tests at the hospital (a follow-up to skin prick tests). But I guess my post came off more grim than I'd intended. There just isn’t anything funny about hospitals, is there? Never mind.

5 comments:

The Mad Scorpion said...

No, you DON'T have to waste your energy on pointless conversations. Yes, you'll look rude and snobby if you don't, but who cares.
If I'm ever in a situation like that, I 1. arrive as late as possible so as to minimise the chances I will have to talk about the weather with someone, 2. Stand far back from everyone else, 3. I'd say just sit in the car til Five comes to you, but... You never know, with Winter on our doorstep you might get lucky with this one when Five (or You) decide it's too wet and cold etc.
But yeah, most of those people, I GUARANTEE IT, are thinking exactly the same thing as you. :)

Katie L. said...

I live in fear of the day when I go back to work and have to get J ready for daycare/school, etc. I'm good at getting up early, but I think I'll have undue anxiety about getting everything together. And that, in itself, will throw everything off and/or keep me from getting decent sleep.
As for small talk with other parents? Terrifying. Despite my extreme desire to be less isolated at home, I still haven't gone to the playgroup that is 2 minutes from my house and at a time when J is not napping. I just feel so awkward in situations like that. So, I remain isolated.

In other words, we're either both freaks--or we're pretty normal.
xxoo to you.

Casey Freeland said...

The small talk is tedious for my love as well. She just knows it's small talk and in the end meaningless. Me, I'll chat with just about anyone. Hang in there. Grueling with bits of wonderful.
Casey

Elizabeth said...

Making small talk is part of my job, so I hate doing it in real life. You would think I would be better at it, but I'm not. But the real question is: are you doing a triathlon?

Madame DeFarge said...

Not something I've had to do, being resolutely childless, but I do loathe smalltalk at the best of times. Totally with you.