Recovering Working Mom: It's all about Plan B . . .

Well, did you all miss me?! It’s been an eon since I’ve written and this summer was . . . well, . . . tough! Still getting used to this SAHM thing, and also my computer is so f*&#ing slow that it was adding so much to my aggravation that I avoided it for three weeks.

But, I now have a brand new MacBook Air and I’m so excited to start using it!

Of course, I’m so computer challenged that I haven’t yet figured out how to transfer all my data to it, so in the meantime I’ll just limp along until Husband from Heaven takes pity on me and saves me from myself and gets me up to date!

But, today I couldn’t resist sharing about what was supposed to be the girls’ first week back at school.

Like any good SAHM I had all my plans laid out . . . including a “first day of school” post drop off stop at the local bar for a mimosa with girlfriends.

The day before school was to start I was merrily going along into the grocery store to buy provisions for the girls’ lunches for the first week of school. Then, the call heard round the world . . . ok, maybe just all of my neighborhood, but indulge the drama . . .

. . . the school district into which I had asked for my children to be transferred (and that I had already registered for last May and that they had been attending since PRESCHOOL) called to tell me they were not going to approve our request. TWO hours before I was going down to the school to find out their teachers and less than 24 hours before school started the district denied our transfer request.

After I stopped throwing out every cuss word imaginable and picked up my crying children from the grocery store entrance, I reflected on what I learned about unexpected detours and “Plan B”:

1) When the woman on the other end of the phone shares bad news with you, TRY to remember that there are small children and families around when you say to the woman “Are you f*&#ing kidding me? This is bullsh*t!” I believe I hung up on her at that point, but I also think I blacked out after realizing that my children would have three additional days of summer before they could start at their new school!

The children MAY have gotten pissed when all I could do was laugh on the sidewalk and take their picture (otherwise, mommy might have cried too)!

2) If you move, TRY to remember where you put important documents like, I don’t know, maybe the grant deed to your house! Within 2 hours I had to go to the girls’ new school and of course, they needed proof of residency. I’ll be d@mned if HfH and I still can’t find where we shoved that thing. Thank God for our realtor who e-mailed it to us within 20 minutes!

3) When you throw a tantrum at your husband because you are mourning the loss of your coveted three days of freedom, make sure that the next day you do NOT admit that you may have PMS. He will decide it was the PMS talking and not the fact that he did something wrong . . . like misplace important documents that of course, are not at all your fault for losing because everyone knows you are NOT the responsible one in the house!

4) When you have no plans for the three days of additional summer that have just been thrust upon you, remember that not speaking to the children is much more effective than yelling. I had been trying to get them to clean their rooms the entire day ; of course, this was something I had been doing all summer long and was completely exhausted of and had not intended to spend another day doing – so, I finally gave up and stopped speaking to them. I’ll be d@mned if within 45 minutes they didn’t have their rooms as well as their entire side of the house cleaned up! The Superego (oldest) even decided to organize all of the doll clothes. I gotta remember this approach in the future.

Moral for today . . . SH*T HAPPENS, but life is all about how you handle plan B. Stay tuned for the adventures of the Clampetts attending Rancho Santa Fe schools. These, my friends, are gonna be good!