By Jacki Hayes, of The Raven's Spell
The alarm sounded at the usual 5:09 am. Several nasty words rang out in my tired and muddled mind as my hand slammed down on the snooze button. The alarm again sounded, 9 minutes later. Ugh, the first day back after a long weekend. I could already tell this day was just not going to go my way.
Horrible, No Good Day.
Then there was the young man in my life telling me he didn’t want the fruit and yogurt smoothie I had made him, even though that is all he has wanted for the last 2 months. We, of course, were out of his beloved Dino Egg oatmeal, so whining progressed from the kitchen as I tried to calmly breathe from the table as I drank two smoothies and watched the first real snow fall of the winter.
Horrible, No Good Day.
With the snow falling over black ice, I should have left early, but there was the crockpot dinner to get started, the whining 9 year-old needing snow boots and pants, and the need to choose a new outfit based on the unexpected weather conditions. Departure time, 10 minutes late.
Horrible, No Good Day.
Upon arriving at the office, after the typical 60 minute commute became 2hours, I discovered that the desks that were dismantled four days prior were still sitting in the center of the main reception area in a jumbled and dysfunctional mess.
Horrible, No Good Day.
Retreating to my office to fire up the computer and check email resulted in discovering that my son would have pictures during wrestling practice. Of course, the check book was sitting at home, a place I did not have time to stop at prior to picking up my son from school and taking him to wrestling (with him changing into practice clothes as school).
Horrible, No Good Day.
Use up vacation time to leave work early, swing by home for the checkbook and discover the crockpot was never turned on. With only 60 minutes available to eat, finish homework, and shower between wrestling and bed-time, the current ban on fast food becomes obsolete.
Horrible, No Good Day.
Watching 50 boys ages 4 to 14 being photographed in a wrestling room (hence enticing wrestling rather than instruction following) becomes the longest 45 minutes of my life. Grumpily I hurry my son to pull his pants over his shorts, saying, “Don’t worry about the shorts riding up, just don’t button the pants, come on, let’s go, I am about to lose it.”
Horrible, No Good Day.
Finally, pulling into McDonald’s drive through, we order our meal and I can see home soon on my horizon. We wait, and we wait, and we wait, and I nearly cry as I tell my son that nothing, absolutely nothing, has gone right that day.
Horrible, No Good Day.
Sitting in the back seat, he says, “Mom, no, something has gone right today.” I sigh and respond, “No nothing, honey.”
I hear his seatbelt come undone, I feel the pressure of him pulling himself forward and then that one thing that went right, a wonderful kiss on the cheek.
“See Mom, something went right today.” And my Angus burger appears at the drive-up window.
Jacki is a divorced mom attempting to raise her son in her new blended, interfaith family while working outside the home and pursuing a graduate degree. When she has time to come up for air, she writes about the craziness of her life at The Raven's Spell, posting regularly about turning her son into a feminist and the challenges of meshing two families into one.
Aww, your son is too sweet. I bet that brightened up your day!
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