It’s been one of those days. Actually, it’s been one of those weeks.
Nothing came easy. Work saw deadline after deadline come and go without much success. My writing projects are still blank documents, even though most are due in a matter of days. Case in point: This column is due and I’m just getting started at 6 p.m. on Sunday evening.
I was late to almost every appointment this week, and even managed to arrive 30 minutes late to my own meeting. Did I mention that I was also late picking up my son from school?
Perhaps I’m giving myself an unnecessary beating. I mean, everyone’s still alive, healthy and … relatively happy. In fact, no one — not my kids, my husband nor my friends — seems to be holding a grudge as a result of my inadequate, unsatisfactory and inexcusable performance this week.
Truth is, I set myself up for failure. I’ve always been the type to take on as much as possible. I never sit still, and the word “no” is not high on my vocabulary list. (Except when I’m in the toy department with my son. Then it escapes my lips about every 20 seconds.)
So it’s my own fault that I try to excel in everything — work, volunteering and, of course, parenting. It was in the latter “profession” that I learned a valuable lesson this week:
Just keep laughing.
The day after I was late picking up my son from school, I had another meeting after work. I mentioned this to my son and told him I’d be at school at 3:10 p.m. to get him, then take him with me to the meeting. He looked at me with a sly smile and said, “You sure? Maybe you better set an alarm this time so you don’t forget. Or maybe write one of those big pink notes like you write for Daddy.”
Then he started to laugh.
I joined him. We must have giggled for 10 minutes. It wasn’t because what he said was so funny (though it was quite intuitive). It was because we both needed that laugh. He knew I was feeling guilty for the day before, and he found the perfect way to tell me it was OK. That HE was OK.
Little did he know that he also reminded me of what is truly important.
It’s easy to get caught up in this world of deadlines and commitments. And as parents, it doesn’t take much for us to feel overwhelmed by responsibilities, lessons, homework — and more commitments.
Sometimes it’s inevitable that we have “one of those days.” Or in my case, “one of those weeks.” When that happens, it’s important to step back and remember what we’re working so hard for.
Being the best parent possible does not always mean making all of my deadlines, arriving on time to all of my meetings or writing the perfect article. It does mean being a mom who can laugh at her son’s jokes, be with him to share that laugh, and wipe away the tears from his cheeks because he’s laughing so hard.
As I write this column, sitting next to me is my open calendar, full of ink marking my deadlines, meetings and commitments for the next five days. It’s going to be another fun-filled week with many opportunities for stress and chaos.
But right smack in the middle of the calendar is a bright pink post-it-note, written in blue crayon, placed there by my son.
“Laugh, Mom. I love you.”
STACEY HARRIS lives in LaPorte with her husband and two children. She is an account manager for a national advertising agency.
