Working mom for a week

We have made it! Through the one week a year when I have to work 9-5 M-F! (Except not on Thursday because holy shit! 5 days in a row! I am an academic, people!) Well, we have almost made it. I am still at the office, and so is Ben. Yes! You read that right-- BOTH of us had to work! (Not him all week, but still there was overlap! We had a sitter! It was madness!)

 I can safely say I have a new appreciation for working moms with a more traditional schedule. As much as I bitch about the kids over the summer (Because summer is long and the children are many), it really does suck for me to work outside the house until dinner time, the neediest time of the day, and then come home and have to jump into parenting with both feet.

 One day, Ben met me halfway across town, and I jumped out of the Prius and into the Sienna full of screams to drive the kids back home to eat dinner while he taught a night class. (I also had to take a 2 hour lunch that day to drive home for Harry's Read! Set! Goal! first grade conference).

The next day, I came home to find the kids happily playing with their babysitter because Ben had already left to teach another night class. This was infinitely preferable to jumping in the screaming van, but I still had to slog through the mess that comes with not being the one home all day to tidy things up, you know? And I had to immediately guide everyone across the street to meet Jack's teacher. And I missed dinner because my drive home sucks at rush hour, so I had to wait to eat until the kids were in bed, and I was cranky.

Another day, I came home as Ben and the kids were busting out the door for soccer practice, so I joined them and again delayed dinner until after 7:30. BRUTAL. Today, he and I should both be home at the same time (I am going to be few minutes later so that I do not have to be the dread FIRST RESPONDER).

 And phew! The week is over.

We can go back to never overlapping each other and never having to rush out the door in the morning. This morning when we were trying to both make our lunches and get dressed whole also cleaning up breakfast and dressing the children was HARD. As much as I complain about work life balance, I really have found the magic combo for myself-- and it just takes a week of being off kilter to make me appreciate things.

Ben's the one doing a tightrope act next week. Tuesday is my first day of my freaking 8:00 am class (seriously, people, what was I thinking when I scheduled that class??). It is also the snowflakes' first day of school. And Parent-Teacher-Organization-Vice-President Ben has to host a back-to-school breakfast for all the parents at our school (except the assholes like me who have to work). So, he has to manage 3 kids, pick up donated bagels and coffee from 5 separate local establishments, take Pinterest first-day-of-school pictures in front of the house, get everyone and all his donated food across the street, set up breakfast, deposit the children, wrangle Cooper, serve breakfast, and stay for a PTO meeting. HA! FOTY material for sure.