The Saturday "7"

This week was bananas: b-a-n-a-n-a-s.

You're welcome for getting that song in your head.

1. I thought last week was bad for my work/life balance, but this week was brutal. Not only did I work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, but we had something going every single night. Our Wednesday night kids' ministry at church started this week, and I'm in charge of registration/marketing, so I was at church Tuesday night to make sure everything was up and running, and then Wednesday night for the actual event. Plus, I was troubleshooting a lot of different things for a lot of different people while also trying to work and grocery shop and maintain my sanity. It was touch and go for a while there.

2. On Thursday I started to come down with a cold that just made my already busy week more miserable. I have Levi's class for library on Thursdays and they're a hot mess, but I couldn't yell at my usual volume because I was so hoarse. I realized that there are two types of boys Levi's age: the compliant ones who do what I say, listen quietly when I read, and try so carefully to follow directions/the rules. Then there are the ones who are constantly talking/climbing on their friends/shouting/making fart noises/asking inappropriate questions/being obnoxious. Guess which one Levi is. 🤦 It's so embarrassing, and makes me feel like a failure as a parent.

3. Thursday night was book club (at church again - I feel like I live there these days), and Friday night Lena had a birthday party at . . . you guessed it . . .the skating rink again! Levi hates skating and Justin had an away game, so I brought him (Levi, not Justin) to my parents' and then did something totally selfish and rude: I sat in a corner of the skating place and read my book the entire two hours we were there. I did not engage with the other parents. I did not take pictures of Lena and her friends. I just introverted. And it was glorious. Except that I worry everyone thinks I'm a total snob.

4. I didn't make dinner once this week, partly because Justin had three soccer games, and it's hard to cook around that schedule, but also because I'm just completely overwhelmed by life lately. I am not handling this transition very gracefully. I'm tempted to quit Once Upon, but then I go grocery shopping and realize how much everything costs. And then I berate myself for not being able to handle my measly work-load of 24 hours a week. I've been thinking a lot about the mental load - which I realize is a millennial thing, and reeks of martyrdom/a victim mentality - but it's been a huge part of my struggle lately. It's not just that I have to work and keep up on the housework/groceries/cooking. It's that I have to remember which days Levi needs to wear gym shoes, and make dentist appointments, and find time to take the kids to those appointments when I work all the time now, and make sure Levi reads his AR book every night, and remember to wash my Once Upon shirts, and make sure I fill out the hot lunch forms, and monitor everyone's screen time, and make sure Justin has stuff for his lunches, and remember when my credit card bill is due, and do research on classroom management for unruly 2nd graders, and buy birthday party gifts, etc., etc., etc. It's stuff all parents deal with. I'm just used to having more capacity to handle it all. I had my first kid-free/work-free day on Friday. I spent it napping (because of the stupid head cold), going to the eye doctor, meal planning for next week, grocery shopping, cleaning the bathroom, working on Arise (church) stuff, and paying bills. And today I cleaned the house, did six loads of laundry, and finished unpacking from camping. Hopefully next week will be less chaotic now that Arise is up and running, and Justin only has two games instead of three. I'll adjust eventually. I'll probably just whine a lot in the meantime.

5. I can't come up with anything else. My head feels like it's going to explode, so just enjoy these memes.