Now that it’s March, I should probably buy a 2013 calendar.

Monday night I had one of the worst night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time.

I started off the day exhausted and demoralized.

Because, you know, I did about 5 million minutes of cardio the week before and lost exactly 0 pounds.

And it was the first Daylight Savings Monday, which is always fun.

I managed to take 3 classes at the Y that morning and drag my ass back at night for another spin class, so by the time 8:00 rolled around and it was time to put the kids in bed, I was barely conscious.

I think I may have fallen asleep before I was actually horizontal.

So when Number 4 came downstairs at 11:30 because she had a bad dream, I wasn’t exactly compassionate.

I had been out cold. Like comatose out.

I could barely even open my eyes.

“Think happy thoughts. Go back to bed.”

I was struggling to pronounce the words.

“But Mom, I ca-”

“Yes you can. Get upstairs.” I don’t even know if she could understand what I was saying, I was so delirious.

No Mom of the Year awards there.

But she went back to her room on her own.

And I fell right back to sleep.

When Number 3 came downstairs at 2:30 because his covers fell off his bed, I wasn’t too psyched either.

But I sort of had to pee, so I went up and fixed them for him.

It took me a while to get back to sleep after that one.

At 3:30, when Number 5 came downstairs because she thought it was time to wake up, well, I was just pissed.

“It’s not time to wake up,” I told her. “Go back upstairs.”

“I want you to carry me.”

Unnnhhhh.

Number 5 is an overly dramatic 3-year-old.

If I didn’t carry her, then there would be a meltdown, hysterics, and she would wake everyone else up.

I certainly didn’t have the energy or patience to endure that, so I mustered up the strength to carry her back up to her room.

It was 3:35 when I got back downstairs, and my alarm was going to go off in 25 minutes.

I knew there was no way in hell I would be able to get up then, so I set it for 4:45.

I had that you-need-to-hurry-up-and-fall-asleep panic that sets in and basically guarantees that you will not fall asleep anytime soon.

So it took me forever to fall back asleep, and when I finally did, I slept through my alarm.

And I woke up at 5:55.

I was meeting a new friend at the Y at 9:05.

She was coming as my guest, and she was going to take a class with me.

So it was not a morning I wanted to be running late.

I had to write my blog post, do a load of laundry (because I had no clean clothes for the gym), make breafast and lunches for all the kids, get Number 4 on the bus, drop Number 3 off at his school, then drop Number 5 off at her school, by 9:00.

Somehow, I managed to do it.

When I left the house though, every surface of my kitchen was covered with dirty dishes.

It was a little hoarder-esque.

So I had something to look forward to when I got home…

Anyway, I dropped Number 3 off at his school at 8:50.

After one of the worst mornings I had had in a very long time, I was actually going to be a couple minutes early to drop off Number 5.

I pulled into her school’s parking lot.

And,

it was completely empty.

What the…

There was a note on the door.

…fuck.

I parked the car, got out, and read what it said.

No School 3/12/13

Teacher Staff Development

Peeeeerrrrfect.

Number 5 is the 3rd child to attend this preschool.

And I love it.

With a capital L-O-V-E.

In case you are in need of a preschool for your children, it is Prince of Peace Preschool.

I recommend it.

Highly.

And I’m pretty picky, judgemental, and opinionated when it comes to all things school-related.

So anyway, every day the teacher sends home a note explaining what the kids did at school that day.

There is also a weekly summary of what they have done in their science class at the end of each week.

And then once a month there is a calendar stapled to the notices, as well as a newsletter from the school, reminding parents of important dates and events.

When Number 3 and 4 went to school there, every day when I picked them up we would get into the car, buckle up, and then I would read those notices aloud to them, and we would spend a minute or two talking about what they had done that day in school.

It was a nice little quality moment that we shared.

I still have every single one of those papers, and I have hopes of putting them all into a scrap book so Number 3 and 4 can reminisce about what they did in preschool when they are older.

A girl can dream, can’t she?

Anyway, do you know what I do with those notices now?

Nothing.

I hardly ever read them.

I throw them into the car, snap at Number 5 and tell her to hurry up and get in her car seat, buckle her up as quickly as I can, and rush to get to the next item on the day’s agenda.

Rush, rush, rush.

Well, rush, rush, rushing got me nowhere yesterday.

In fact, it made me very late to meet my new friend at the Y.

Had I taken one minute to read any of those papers then I would have known there was no school.

And I wouldn’t have run around like a maniac searching for Number 5’s crap for dance class which she goes to directly after school, or making her one of the world’s least healthy lunches because I desperately needed to go grocery shopping, and I wouldn’t have added to the mess rivaling that of a fraternity house in my kitchen, and I wouldn’t have had to drive my kid back to my house before I could go to the Y.

How many times have I told my kids to slow down and do things the right way the first time?

Blech.

Another instance of do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do.

Those appear to occur much more often than I had originally thought.

I guess the universe is trying to tell me something.

Again.

Ain’t that the truth.

And so, effective immediately, I’m going to make sure I take at least one minute every day to slow down and smell the roses.

If not to smell the roses, well, at least to read the notices.

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