On doing it all....and doing it badly!

The events of this morning had never happened before, but they did have a familiar ring to them.

It went something like this.  We were in the car, on the way to Bakers delight, for lunch on the fly, as there was no fresh bread.  I parked right in front, flew inside, and bought two packs of mini rolls, one cheese and bacon and one Vegemite.  I felt a little happy buzz, when the assistant offered me some paper bags to separate them into for school lunches - clearly not to only flustered mum that shops for school lunch on the way to school!

We were on the way in plenty of time, and Dakota added the rolls to the other items in the lunch boxes, as I drove.  I smiled, content that everything was under control.

Then a small voice came from the back.  "Mummy, Mrs Andrews said I had to give you this note yesterday, but I forgot".

As she said the words, I knew.  Prep entrance testing, and I knew it was Wednesdays, and I knew this was the last one, and worst of all, I knew that I had booked Montana in for a 9am spot.  Crap.

Pull into the school carpark, and try to decide what is worse.  Ringing the school and saying that she can't come, knowing that I will mess up a really important schedule, or find a way to get her in there.  Miraculously she has dressed herself this morning (preps have Wednesdays off for the month of February, and Montana has been doing school runs in her pi's on those days), but she has not put on any shoes.  I put the other children on the job, and we scratch around frantically in the car for something she can wear in on her feet.  Finally come up with a pair of ill-fitting thongs, and I think we're on our way.

Then, disaster.  I realise that Georgia's stroller was in the front seat that morning, and Dakota needed to sit there, so instead of putting it in the boot, I chucked it under the carport.  I didn't have a stroller for her, and she is too heavy to carry, so there was no way I could go in.

I rang the office from my mobile, from the car.  Could I send her in with her sisters, and then drive home and get the pram, and come back and collect her after the testing?  They are so used to me flying by the seat of my pants, that this time they cheerily say, "sure, send her in", without the audible sigh that usually accompanies these exchanges.  I send her in, watching her struggle behind her sisters, as she doesn't do thongs that well yet, and thinking about how extremely fail I am.

Drive the 15 minutes home, put some clothes on Georgia and give her some weetbix.  She looks faintly alarmed at the quick turn around back into the car, but luckily she is an easygoing kid.  Drive 15 minutes back, and pick Tana up just as Mrs A is wrapping up.  Drive home, thinking that was really a power hour....and not my finest.

I'd like to say that the above is an isolated type of event - but it's not.  School excursion notices and permission sheets are nearly always signed on the last possible day, and usually with reminder notes sent home with the children, and, if they go unread, a phone call.  My house is a mess, as I clean one part of the kitchen, then wander off and put a load of washing on, then do a bit of the bathroom, then onto the computer to pay a bill, or trawl Facebook, never really finishing any tasks.  I am doing fine with my studies so far, but that is only because I have a good retentive memory for what I learn in class, and rarely need to refer back to my notes.  On the odd occasion I do, I find them all over the place, and take 10 minutes to find a paragraph that I know is there, and that I should have been able to find in 2.

I often wonder if I should have tried to do less, but do it better.  Would I be a better mother, if I had had less children?  I know there are neglectful mothers out there.  Even abusive mothers.  There are kids denied even the basic care.  My kids are well cared for, fed, clothed, generally provided for, and very, very loved. I just hope they don't think they could do better with a mother that was slightly less scatty, and all over the place.......

Has anyone else been this shockingly disorganised and managed to turn it around?