Is there anything better as a child than a school cancellation? You should have heard the screams and excitement on Monday morning this past week when the text came through that school was closed. They were ecstatic! And that does not even compare to the joy these kids proclaimed when we got the text on Tuesday night that they were already cancelled for Wednesday.
Can we talk about that for a second – the fact that they can know right away about delays and cancellations from a text to my phone. These kids will never learn the patience of waiting for a song to finish so the DJ can read off the school closings on the radio or watch for what seems like an eternity for their school to come up as the updates scroll along the bottom of the TV screen. Nope, it is just an instant text to Mom’s phone. Must be nice.
Do you know what is not so nice? Or I guess what is not better than anything in the world to a working Mama? Two school cancellations in one week while said Mama still has to work from home.
I mean, it sounds so wonderful at first – no rushing kids around in the morning – literally no one has to get dressed. We don’t even have to brush our hair if we don’t want to. We don’t have to worry about getting to the bus stop on time, and I don’t have to make the daily commute. On top of that, there surely will be breaks in the day where we can cuddle, play and get some extra time together.
Except, there never is. The “breaks” usually consist of quick bathroom trips where I have to remind them to clean up one thing before they move on to the next, and then the next, and then the next. There’s making lunch on a conference call and trying to shush the kids when it is my turn to speak. Sometimes it is almost a test in agility – can I hit mute faster than they can complain about something for my whole meeting to hear.
And those complaints! Sissy did this. Sissy did that.
But why did you break open her skin with your fingernails? Oh, because she was annoying you? Good, I am clearly killing it at teaching you anger management. I can’t wait until you try to claw your boss at work one day because they were doing something you didn’t like.
And guys, my house. How can such little people destroy it so fast? I cannot understand how my floors need swept by 10 a.m. and my counters have goo caked on them by noon. Speaking of goo – or concoctions as we like to call them – my children are the queens of concoctions. And well, this week, that was my final straw.
When I finally put work down for the day and started dinner, I also decided to knock out the dishes. Upon doing so, I found an entire cup full of chocolate mix – their beloved concoction material and favorite snack – Nutella. My kids love Nutella. As a parent, I hate it. Sure, it is a quick and easy snack – but they always leave some on the spoon which turns practically to concrete. And if that is not the case then it is in a mix that hardens in a cup.
Time and time and time again I have asked them to stop doing this. And this day I was over it.
Have you ever had one of those mom moments where you are so frustrated that you literally want to take away everything? No? Me either. Ha!
Just kidding. Seriously, in the heat of the moment, I grounded my kids from Nutella for a MONTH! I kid you not. It came out faster than I could stop it and, well, I am sick of literally throwing Nutella down the garbage disposal.
So yeah, in other words, I yelled at my girls and grounded them from Nutella, they got the pleasure of cleaning out their chocolate concrete mess, my grocery bill should be a little lighter this month (that stuff is expensive!) and I have wholeheartedly decided that school cancellations clearly aren’t working out for us.
But hey, we made it through. We always do. I apologized for yelling and they apologized for the mess. We said our “I love you’s” and hugged it out.
I can tell you this much, if not one more flake of snow falls this year to cause a cancellation, I won’t even be mad. After all, my house can’t get destroyed, concoctions can’t be made, and I won’t lose my cool if we are all at school and work all day. In fact, I think I will just start counting down the days until Spring (but not fog – we don’t need any cancellations for that either).
Sarah (Pitson) Shrader was born and raised in Lima. She is a Lima Central Catholic and Tiffin University graduate. Sarah is a full-time working mama who enjoys writing about her somewhat crazy, always adventurous life as a mother. She lives in Bath Township with her daughters and writing inspirations, Maylie and Reagan.
