We need to talk about personal things more, because that's the best way to make work, well, work...
Wednesdays are my crazy day.
Here’s what we need to get out the door:
- One morning snack for our 1st grader
- Two lunches for our 1st and 6th grader
- Two after school snacks for extended day / play practice
- Two refillable water bottles, filled and chilled and packed in backpacks for the day
- Two dance snacks, packed away in dance bags for both girls’ two-hour-long dance classes later in the day
- Two dance bags, packed with proper leotards and tights, ballet slippers and jazz shoes (and afore-mentioned snacks)
- Two very neat, and very reinforced buns – dance hair needs to be ready to go… (enter 10,000 bobby pins and a gallon of hairspray - recess is no match for these bunheads)
- One dinner in the crockpot for later UPDATE: accidentally set the crockpot to high, could've checked the WEMO app on my phone, but didn't. Luckily my mom was at my house for her piano lesson and noticed. Thanks mom!
Here’s what happens after school:
- Extended day for the 6th grader (please, please, please finish your homework and put on your leotard and tights before 4 PM. PLEASE. And eat your snack).
- Play rehearsal for the 1st grader (please eat your snack, be nice, follow directions, don’t mess up your hair) UPDATE: She dropped her Oreos and stepped on them, there were tears, and there were hugs from the head of drama who texted me to say "bring an extra snack when you come to pick up"
- Leave office early (today it was leave office for meeting and high-tail it from there to be at school on time)
- Pull 1st grader out of play practice at 4 PM– (which is early); grab 6th grader from extended day (and her sweet friend who is always ready and organized…)
- Quickly help first grader put her tights on straight, pull on leotard, pack up uniform; send 6th grader to refill water bottles at water fountain UPDATE: 6th grader lost her reusable water bottle, AGAIN
- Double-check everyone has their dance bag, dance shoes and snacks are still inside dance bags; newly-refilled water bottles are also in dance bags; uniforms are in backpacks
- Run girls down the road to dance by 4:15
- Go home, lug 2 backpacks, 2 lunchboxes, my bag w laptop, up two flights of stairs to front door… check crockpot, start rice, get back to work until 6 PM when it’s time to pick darlings up from dance….
I posted this message on Facebook today - the channel I use for personal things... So many parents have days like these. And if you're not a parent, you still have crazy personal situations that need tending to. I decided to put it here on LinkedIn even though I never put personal stuff on LinkedIn, because I was thinking about how we share our work successes and stresses with our teams, but our personal victories and struggles we mostly keep to ourselves.
Know when to tip the scale in your favor - and make it possible for your team to do the same!
Wednesdays are hard for me. But, if I didn't have the flexibility in my agency that I craved on the corporate side, then I wouldn't be able to make Wednesdays work at all. (Or, I'd pay someone else to make Wednesday work.) So, in a professional networking channel, I want to take a moment to give a shout out to everyone who's made a decision to make a personal situation more tenable. We need to talk about personal things more, because that's the best way to make work, well, work... Be honest about when you need to take the kids to dance, and be thankful if you're in a position to get a sitter last minute b/c of a work deadline and understanding towards those who need a minute to get some things in order. Know when to tip the scale in your favor - only you can do that for yourself. And, make it possible for your team to do the same!