Monday, January 26, 2009

I just forgot...

This seems to be something that is happening to me more & more these days. I wish I that I could say that most of the things I forgot were no big deal...but that is not the case. Here are two examples of the bigger things I have failed to remember already this school year...

#1 Zander has show & tell ONE day every few months where everyone gets to share something. This year they have only had ONE scheduled so far, and I completely forgot what day it was. Normally, I am VERY prepared - we even talk about what he will be doing ahead of time, but that day we (obviously) had not. It was not until after school that I realized that I had forgotten. He could have cared less, but my heart was broken.

#2 Back in November (on her birthday) Ellie had a dentist appointment during school hours. That also meant 2 different sitters because Zander had preschool that day, and my friend that kept Ava does not transport kids. I had made arrangements for them for the day, AND been thinking about Ellie's appt, AND her birthday. What I had not been thinking about was Kaden.

When I picked him up from school, he told me that he had had a field trip that day. Then it all came to me. A field trip, he needed a sack lunch, dress for the weather...OH... MY..GOODNESS! I started blubbering about being SO, SO sorry. I asked him what happened because he had not taken a lunch. He explained that the lunch ladies made him one. I started to cry (again!) and asked him if he had at least remembered his gloves & hat that morning because I knew it was an outside trip. He told me that he had, but asked if I remembered that his coat zipper was not working? Well, the school gave him a coat to wear too! I felt like the WORST possible Mother ever. ever. ever. I kept apologizing, but he assured me that everything was "FINE, MOM! Why are you crying???" I wish I could say that made me feel better, but my guilt was too powerful. I still feel bad talking about it.

I know that there will always be things that I forget to do, but I try VERY hard now to make sure that I have everything planned. I've always followed my calendar closely, but both of those days I was so busy- I just forgot. Now I check the calendar at night too, just in case, because keeping up with four kids schedules has proved to be tougher than I thought!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hear ya. I forgot my daughters pre school teacher conf today and was horrified, feeling like worst mom ever. But she's doing great and we spent quality time all weekend so i guess i'm not doing too bad a job. Most obvious observation on my part is that her appointments must go on my work calendar like every other meeting. Still feeling a bit dumb I didn't think of that before. 2nd observation, don't plan things for Mondays.

Anonymous said...

I've started forgetting the biggies lately, most recently the big GT testing just this past thursday. I'm going to pay, though, in spades, because of the hoops we are going to have to go through to actually get the testing at this point, so maybe that'll help me remember. Maybe?

Anonymous said...

I think we all have those days. I finally got a big white-board calendar and color-coded it for the kids with things like "library," "show & tell," "birthday snack," etc.

I still usually forget to look at it (even though it's right in front of me at the kitchen table) but they remember to check it, thankfully.

If they depended on me, we'd be in deep trouble.

Heather said...

Oh I know! I recently forgot M's good friend's birthday party when we had just seen them 2 days prior. I felt terrible.

Also, earlier this school year I keep K out of preschool on a day when the fire truck was going to be there. Doh!

Rainbow Momma said...

Forgetting is my biggest fear - and I have forgotten some big ones! I've started putting EVERYTHING in my phone and set a timer at least 2 hours in advance, just so I have time to make arrangements if I happen to forget.

Hip Mom's Guide said...

I agree with these moms, Angi. Let yourself off the hook a little! We all forget something from time to time. You know what our kids learn? They don't learn that we don't love them--they already KNOW we do. Instead, they learn that moms aren't perfect, even though we often wish we were. Better yet, they learn that they don't have to be perfect either. Awesome!

Anonymous said...

I even look at the calendar in the morning, and read all the appointments... and I STILL forget! We're overwhelmed Moms. That's all I can say... just go easy on yourself...it won't be the last time!