Charlotte Time Out

I typically try to work from home on Fridays. I get a little time with the kids and can schedule household type appointments as well. Between preschool and naps, I can typically get about 3-4 hours of dedicated “groove time” to focus on work. But today I was reminded how delicate that balance really is and how quickly the best laid plans can go south (and I’m not referring to Georgia).

Today, I scheduled a conference call for 10:30. It wasn’t a client call, but it was relatively important. My sweet son slept in this morning for the first time in 5 months. I knew the typical 10 AM nap was doomed. I could smell disaster impending so I donned my best rally cap and formulated a plan.

Fifteen minutes prior to the call time, I filled two snack cups and one sippy. Food, the ultimate toddler diversion. Then I gated the staircase, closed the doors to all bedrooms and bathrooms and carefully constructed a ring of toys so enticing I was almost tempted to play myself. Lastly I moved my laptop, coffee (3rd cup), notebook and phone to a table where I had the best vantage spot to all accessible rooms. Brilliant. I almost broke my arm patting myself on the back. Let the games begin.

My sweet boy innocently and contently played while I waited for the phone to ring. 8 minutes passed without a peep of malcontent. The call was late.  The phone finally rang, my toddler looked up and I swear to you I saw a flicker of pure devil in his baby blue eyes. My heart shuddered.

2 minutes into the call: Wills initiated his favorite game of “bring Mommy toys”. My only job in this game is to take the toys and smile. I can do that. No problem. He brings a Hot Wheel. Smile. A book. Smile. A block. Smile. A 26″ fitness ball. Not smiling anymore.

5 minutes into the call: Wills is distracted by the sound of barking dogs outside. He darts to the window, mangles the blinds and upon seeing the canine source, begins barking back. Loudly. I remember thinking this was really cute about a month ago. Not so much as I smothered the mouthpiece of the phone and struggled to hear. Then it happened, “Shhhh!” escaped my lips and the two other participants in the call were stunned into silence. Sorry.

10 minutes in to the call: Wills whines and I pull out the big guns. Snacks. The first snack bowl was a bust. Ate one, fed one to the dog and then handed it back to me. Rats! Second bowl was dry sugared cereal. Don’t judge me. It’s a surefire hit. He smiled, took the bowl and headed for the family room. Ahh…I focused for three minutes and actually typed some notes before I heard crunching.

14 minutes: I look around the corner and note my son is stomping, crushing and obliterating the half a cup of cereal he dropped on the area rug. Crunch. Crunch. I bit my tongue hard and forced myself to remember the Dyson cures all. I can do this. Look away.

16 minutes: Wills attacks the recycle bin and liberates three days of newspapers and cardboard to the hallway where it makes a great obstacle course and lots of swishy noise.

18 minutes: He finishes his milk and launches his sippy cup in apparent celebration. It lands in the dog bowl spilling food and water under my feet. I jump in reflex. He cries in response. Craptastic. I pick him up to soothe him.

20 minutes: Wills recovers from the drama and focuses his attention on grabbing my pen, then the phone, then my earring…in desperation, I move to the nearest light switch and allow him to flip the hall light on and off repeatedly. Click. click. Click. click. Click. click. I complete my call with my pupils dilating rapidly while noting a phone number on my hand with the pen I hid in my pocket.

Call ends. Wills resumes happy toddler status. I check the clock. 20 minutes until preschool pickup. What just happened?

Thank goodness my world exists within a 5-mile radius in Charlotte, otherwise I’d be much crazier.

7 a.m. Wake up late

7:30 a.m. See 6 y.o. has red eye. Figure it’s just allergies, but we’ll call the doctor’s office at 8 when they open to see if they can walk me through ruling out pink eye (aka conjunctivitis).

7:45 a.m. Throw clothes on sans shower to get the kids hustled out the door should the doctor say we’re AOK

8 a.m. Call the nurse’s line at my pediatrician’s office. They say it’s most likely allergies and to try Claritin. Fine. Good. We can closely make the 8:30 bell.

8:05 a.m. Pack up the 5-year-old’s backpack and guide her through making her lunch.

8:15 a.m. Pack up all three kids to drop off the 6-year-old. Oops. The 5-year-old still doesn’t have shoes on. And now she doesn’t like the shoes I’ve asked her to put on.

8:25 a.m. The 5- and 6-year-olds are clothes, shoed and ready to walk out the door. Baby is in my arms, diaper bag is packed. Off we go to the elementary school.

8:33 a.m. Missed the bell by 3 minutes so all four of us must go to the school office to sign in the 6-year-old.

8:45 a.m. We get back in the car and drive to preschool.

8:50 a.m. The 5-year-old is dropped off.

And here’s where the fun begins …

9 a.m. I’m turning down the street my mom lives on to pick her up so she can help me out with the baby. Today is a work day, after all.

9:01 a.m. My phone rings and I instantly recognize the school’s number. I look at the clock. The 6-year-old hasn’t even made it 20 minutes. The school nurse thinks she might have pink eye and to pick her up. After I finish banging my head on the steering wheel, I continue to mom’s house.

9:03 a.m. Mom gets in the truck and I’m on hold with the pediatrician’s office — which I’ve called for the second time in an hour. We now have a 10 a.m. appointment.

9:10 a.m. Return to the elementary school to pick up the 6-year-old.

9:15 a.m. Head home and pop in the house to change the baby’s diaper and grab him a bottle. We weren’t planning on an all-morning adventure! He’s still in his jammies and I’m really wishing I’d found time for a shower.

9:30 a.m. Pack everyone back up and head to the pediatrician’s office.

10:15 a.m. The doctor says her eye is most likely infected and hands us some drops. Woo hoo! No additional trip to the pharmacy after this visit. Thankful prayer is said! And our kind doctor also takes a peek in the baby’s ears to verify his ear infection from two weeks ago has indeed cleared up. Another happy dance is performed.

11 a.m. Back home. And just realized I’ve got a whopping hour to get a few things done before picking up the 5-year-old from preschool.

Yes, at 11 a.m., I’m considering cracking a bottle of Merlot or maybe tequila. Bottoms up!

I used to enjoy grocery shopping and cooking but somewhere along the journey, I lost that lovin feeling for my culinary chores. I suspect the fun turned to drudgery around the same time the children started to embrace 5-6 PM as the time of day when they are least likable. Food shopping and prep became less appealing still when the kids become vocal about the six and a half foods that they like this week which I dutifully stock up on only to find that by next week they have fallen out of favor.

But since I don’t seem to have any volunteers to take over the job of chief grocery shopper and cook, I have developed some dinner time coping strategies that I am going to generously share with others who may share my plight.

1. Mr. Food rocks. I’ve tried lots of food prep places. There are some good ones out there but no one so far has compared with Mr. Food for service and taste. I’m a working mother of three. I’m kinda over the assembly part of the gig. I order online and pick up. Chip (the owner) doesn’t let me down.

2. Trader Joe’s is a great place for a quick shop and non-traditional fare. You can be in and out in 15 minutes with a kid or two in tow. The service is spectacular and they have tasty frozen entrees, organic produce and lots of heat and eat options that do not sport the Chef Boy’Adee logo. One caveat: The South Charlotte location has the world’s worst parking lot. Suck it up. It’s worth the hassle.

3. Costco – The rotisserie chicken is must-have. Buy two (they are the only thing in the store that you don’t buy in a case pack by the way). You can serve one for dinner and cut the other one up for chicken salad, quesadillas, chicken tacos, soup, or a host of other yummy, easy recipes. (psst…even the kids like it at our house).

4. Grill. It’s the secret to sanity once the weather is nice in Charlotte. You can grill a different item for every picky eater in the family if you need to and you can do it all while standing on your back porch sipping a glass of wine and watching the kids wear themselves out running in the yard. Beats the heck out of them clinging to you leg in the kitchen.

5. Kraft Foods web site. I know, I know. I have quite possibly fallen victim to a clever marketing ploy by those keen minds at Kraft. I’m going to tell you straight. I don’t care. They have a great database of easy to make recipes complete with feedback and reviews from other time-crunched people like me. They make it easy to maintain a virtual recipe box and once I select my recipes for the week, they make my shopping list for me. The list is just the way I like it too, organized by aisles in the grocery.

So there you have it. Five ways that I survive the grocery/cooking heartache. Add yours!