At Which Point I Take A Deep Breath And Begin Counting To Ten

I was able to leave work a little early today. I had to drop some things off at the post office and needed to do a few last minute errands for our company Christmas party tomorrow night. I had just left and was running through the afternoon in my mind. I would run by the post office, stop at Hobby Lobby, meet Meagan to pick up Little D, go to a full service grocery store and then get home to fix dinner. It was at this thought that I remembered needing to thaw out the main dish. I was going to pick up the cell phone to call 'Child A' about it when I remembered that 'Child A' was fulfilling a commitment and was not at home. I thought that I should probably call 'Child B' at home to request that the meat be retrieved from the freezer. In that split second it occurred to me that if 'Child A' were on the other side of town fulfilling said commitment then 'Child B' was still sitting outside the school because 'Child A' is the ride home. [Deep breath...1]

I picked up my cell and called 'Child A' to inquire whether other means had been obtained for 'Child B' to get home. The answer was a shocked and stammered 'no'. [Deep breath...2] At this point, 'Child B' had been out of school for about 30 minutes and it would take me at least 30 minutes to make it there. [Deep breath...3] Jim was in East Texas, so that was not an option. [Deep breath...4] 'Child C' was the closest one to 'Child B'...however, 'Mom 1' had only the week before grounded 'Child C' from all cell phone use and driving privileges. (It is true that discipline hurts the parent more than the child.) [Deep breath...5...6] I called Meagan and moved up our meeting time as I would be driving right past her but would not be able to make it back before she had to leave. [Deep breath...7 ] Little D and I then rushed to the school and I bribed 'Child B' with a combo meal from Sonic. [Deep breath...8] I ran into the only grocery store in town for the few things I needed and then we came home, unloaded the suburban full of baby things needed to keep an infant overnight, retrieved the meat from the freezer and fed Little D his bottle. [Deep breath 9...10]

Now I need to get the clothes from the dryer, start dinner and play with my grandson before it is time to put him to bed. [Awaiting slow exhale.]

This is just a slice of what I call 'life'. Maybe you can begin to understand why I suffer from occasional bouts of pre-hypertension.