Logistics

Logistics. Not just a UPS jingle but the central theme of our lives last week.

Sydney was taking water survival lessons last week. Now, this is not just any regular swim lesson. It's hard core and truly designed to teach kids survival skills if they fall into a body of water. I was given similar instruction when I was just six months old and have spent my life in the water... from recreation in rivers, lakes and the ocean to competitive swimming. My sisters and I have even been known to swim in a mud hole or two left by deep tractor-tire tracks. I love the water and want my kids to love it as well. But they also need to respect it and learn the basics at a young age. Sydney didn't like doing the work - it was hard and she cried a lot - but she learned how to roll over and float if she ever falls in and that was the goal. Scroll to the bottom for more info on that.

But back to logistics. Her lessons were at 11am every day. She is in daycare every day and has a pretty structured schedule. Lunch is at 11am and naptime begins around 11:45. Hmmm. Fitting a 30 minute water lesson in the middle of that was going to be tricky.

Each day, I picked Sydney up roughly 15 minutes before her lesson (the lessons were less than a half mile from her school), fed her a snack in the car and changed her into her bathing suit in the back when we arrived. Immediately after her lesson, I dried her off and put her back into dry clothes from the rear of the van (dare I say I do love my mini van - gasp!) while also feeding her lunch. She continued to eat lunch on the very short drive back to school. I urged her to finish lunch while sitting in the parking lot and whisked her back into school at 11:50am just in time for nap. Whew. Mission accomplished. It's a wonder she didn't puke.

She really was a trooper. That was a tough schedule for a 20 month old but she handled it beautifully. I am amazed and so very thankful for her adaptability.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... we operated like a well oiled machine.

And then it happened.

Thursday's schedule was full. After Sydney's lesson I was supposed to go downtown to help a friend, get to the gym for pilates and prepare dinner for guests coming that night. The schedule was hanging by a thread anyway - then Mother Nature decided to mess with me.

Mid-week, the weather turned terribly overcast and cooler than anticipated. The host pool where her lessons were held got a little too cool for comfort, so Thursday morning I got a call from the instructor that we were moving to her heated pool - 20 minutes north! Oh Lord help.

Something was going to fall through the cracks for sure. I did my best to prep for dinner that morning then headed out to get Sydney for her lesson, playing it by ear, ready to adjust as needed.

Lesson finished and as I anticipated, Sydney was fast asleep in the car in less than 5 minutes. I could either A) take her home and hope that she would finish her nap there (not going to happen) or B) I could just keep driving downtown to visit and help out my friend. She was guaranteed to get about a 50 minute nap in the car under that scenario so option B it was!

She had a great car nap, got a fun girls trip to Target and a quick lunch. Then back in the car and to daycare for an afternoon of learning and play. I managed to get to the gym for a quick pilates lesson then picked up the kids and raced home to finish dinner.

I was feeling like a champ! We had accomplished every single to-do item for the day, the house looked decent, dinner was under control and even got the kids bathed.

Our guests - a former colleague of Pat's from Louisiana and his wife - arrived around 6:30 as we were sighing in relief and sitting down for the first time. I was putting out some delicious empanadas they brought when I heard them say, "Oh, no thank you, we are so full from dinner."

I'm sorry. What? Surely I didn't hear that right. You already ate dinner?

I can only imagine the look I gave Pat at that point. We Fletcher girls are known for some a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words kind of looks. I'm sure mine was some classic combination of fury, exasperation and bemusement.

We just sort of laughed as I headed into the kitchen to turn off the stove and oven. We finally sat down - at our new dining room table by the way - around 9:30pm with our over-cooked and re-heated dinner. And had a good laugh then.

To celebrate the week of logistics and Sydney's hard work in the pool, I kept her home after her lesson on Friday for an insanely long nap, some fun girl time and ice cream treats.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In case you missed some of the fun pics and video of Sydney's water lessons on Facebook, here they are.

Important side note... we took Sydney to the pool this weekend to remind her it's fun and not always hard work. She clearly has no scarring from her lessons - she excitedly exclaimed "ool! ool!" - Sydney speak for pool - from the backseat of the car when we arrived, went running into the water the moment we got there and had to be dragged away kicking and screaming hours later because she was having so much fun.

Click here to watch Sydney's Swim Survival Video

And if you're interested in lessons for your child, here is the link to Glendy's Waterbabies.

May What???

Where has this month gone? This morning I was adding an event to my calendar for June... and realized it is NEXT WEEK! What the...????

It started out innocently enough. My dad and sister were coming for a visit at the beginning of the month and then it would be smooth sailing until June.

Then Sydney got sick and was home for a week. She apparently didn't know she was sick and did not slow down one iota!

Ready to get caught up the following week... and Fletcher got sick. There was no fooling him though! He knew he was sick and was mis-ra-bull! He completely falls into the stereotype of boys being terrible patients and big babies when they're not feeling well. He also fell ill on a week when I was supposed to take a fun trip to DC. It seems to be a theme. Anytime mom tries to go away for a night, one or both kids get sick. Trip cancelled. Booooo.

OK, phew, back to normal. Not so fast. Sydney had water survival training every day last week. Her lessons were at 11am, cutting right into the middle of the day and creating quite the logistical challenge for me. More on that in my next post.

So finally this week, sanity should be returning. However the to-do list, half started projects and mess has piled so high it literally leaves me paralyzed. And operation "organize the office" - which has... um... been on my to-do list since maybe January - has officially moved to the top (well, ok, maybe not exactly since I'm sitting here on Wednesday, amid the squalor, blogging). In hopes of motivating me - or shaming me - whatever works - I'm posting the awful evidence for all to see.

But while this month may have been crazy, it's also been a very fun one. In case you missed us, here is a quick look into what we've been up to...

Grampy and Aunt Jami came for a visit (and made banana pudding).

We played with the water hose.

Took walks to see the ducks.

Big boy turned 7 months (no more pics or the bear gets it!)

We destroyed the pantry (yes, that is powdered sugar in her hands - potential disaster avoided after photo captured)

Played nicely together

Helped with household chores

And were generally happy!

Mother's Day

May is a bittersweet month. May 1 was the anniversary of my mother's passing. This year it was four years since her death. Today we celebrate her and all mothers. And in a few weeks, I will be thinking of her again on what would have been her 67th birthday. Needless to say, I think of my mom a lot during this time of year.

When she passed, I wrote about being very grateful and feeling blessed to have special time with her before she was gone. Sadly, most people lose a loved one very suddenly and live with regrets of unspoken love. We knew mom's time here was coming to an end and made the most of it.

I am still grateful for that time, but in the four short years since she has gone, so much has happened in my own life that I wish I could have shared.

She never had the opportunity to meet my husband and see me marry. She would have loved him and his family. I easily imagine all the phone calls and emails that she and my mother-in-law would surely have exchanged. Frightening, really.

She didn't get to see me become a mother, provide advice on breastfeeding or hold either of my children. She never got to laugh at the payback I am surely getting for all the gray hairs I put on her head. God help me when they become teenagers because I know what a rotten human being I was during those years.

It's the conversations now I wish we could have. The things I never thought to ask before. Because I wasn't yet married or a mother. Having your own kids, you gain incredible insight about what it might have been like when your own parents were raising you. I want to be able to talk about sleeping patterns and baby food and poopy diapers and growth charts. I want to hear her reminiscing about when we were babies and recall obscure moments from our childhood.

That she does not know my family seems completely absurd.

I know she is beaming from up above but it's just not the same. So on this sacred day, if you are lucky enough to still have your mom in your life, give her a massive hug and tell her thank you and I love you. Even if you don't yet fully understand why. She will.

To my mom, June Kirkpatrick Fletcher (1944-2007).