Saturday 1 November 2008

Saturdays are horrible

Because... 9.40am. I take Squirrel over the road for her tennis lesson. These tennis lessons have been a trial. Even though the courts are literally over the road. In fact they are so close, if I were strong enough I could throw Squirrel over the fence, saving myself the walk to the entrance gate.

But tennis doesn't start until 10am. Squirrel must wait 20 minutes while the first lessons finish. But I can't wait with her. Because this is where I must be in two places at the same time.

At 9.45am I need to take Tiger to the ice rink for her skating lesson which also starts at 10am. To drive there, run in, sort out skates and have her ready, I need 15 minutes. So at 9.45 the key turns in the ignition, ready or not, because skating lessons cost a fortune and we are not missing a minute.

This conflict of lesson time is not helped by the fact that Dig is not here. He is in Japan. Which means there is no-one to look after Shark, who wants to stay at home.

I have resolved this problem by telling Shark that, while Tiger is skating, Squirrel is sitting at the tennis courts and, until I return, she must look after herself. And if something happens, like the house exploding, the roof falling in, then go to the neighbours. This is pointless, because Shark is reading Why the Whales Came by Michael Morpurgo, and she's not putting down that book for anything, so forget it. She'll be sitting in exactly the same position she was when I walked out the door, just surrounded by roof tiles and bits of exploded wall.

Well, all that dashing about and leaving neglected children to fend for themselves while the house explodes is pretty bad already. But Saturdays gets worse.

Because at 2.20pm I need to take Squirrel to her ballet exam class. And leave Tiger and Shark together at home, even though they might be at that stage where they are prepared to rip each other's faces off. And today we cannot join the RSPB walk, even though we would all like very much to go, because the ballet class lands smack down in the middle of it all. If Dig was here, then I could occupy Shark and Tiger with robins and starlings, and Dig could suffer the You have failed cold shoulders of the ballet mums.

And this is why I hate Saturdays. Because I am one person, with three children. And Saturdays makes me feel very alone.

6 comments:

Jax Blunt said...

this week I am hating Sundays, as Tim is in Suffolk and Big had a Brownie day out that started at 9.45 (on a Sunday??) and Small really didn't want to get up after bouncing around the house until 10.30 last night...

mamacrow said...

oh babe. papacrow is going back to work on monday after 2wks off, just as I'd gotton used to him being around and was feeling less swamped. sigh.

Tricia said...

This sounds incredibly stressful and I can see why your Saturdays are horrible. I laughed when I read about your child not being able to put the book down, even in an exploding house. I was the same way.

Irene said...

Poor Grit, I like Saturdays so much, because I hardly have to take care of myself. I just walk the dog and feed all the animals and make sure I'm dressed halfway decent and that's it. I could get drunk all day if I wanted to and nobody would be any wiser.

Now, mind you, I did have children at one time who needed me and who needed to go places, but those days are far behind me and now it is just me I have to think about. Would you like to trade places with me? You might miss your brood very quickly and I would miss my peace and quiet.

We all arrive at our appointed stages in life when we are good and ready. I am good and ready for this one, although I wish you more quiet weekends and less intensive days. More of Dig, I guess.

Be good dear one and hang in there. The children sound very sturdy, they will survive falling roof tiles, I'm sure of it.

Sam said...

Good grief! I got tired just reading about it.

You see your problem - you're too nice. Instead of all these activites, you should give them all a tablecloth to hem. Then you can sit down with your own book, and relax ;-)

sharon said...

What a shame there's not another child's parent to carpool for the Ice Rink run. That would make your life a lot easier. Or maybe you should take up Sam's idea and get the little darlings hemming or even embroidering tablecloths instead!