Category Archives: Motherhood

Being Late

3 May, 2013 4:32 pm ⋅ 1 Comment ⋅

I recently told someone that I was born 2 weeks late, and I’ve been running late ever since – but now I have it down to 20 minutes max. It was meant as a joke, and it got a laugh.

Sometimes things are funny because they are true. This week my youngest daughter shyly asked me “Mummy, I don’t mean to be rude, but why are you always late?” Children are effective at putting the mirror up for you. She is often the last child to be picked up from school. Not late enough to warrant a call to me, or to Children’s Aid, but tardy nonetheless.

Being LateSo I pondered on my knack for being late, and I tried to explain it to her. It isn’t a matter of being disorganized. It is partly due to having a full schedule which includes squeezing in a school run at 3:25pm; and partly because I have no sense of time.

Ok, perhaps it is mostly because I have no sense of time. At 2:50pm, with the best of intentions, I’ll start a call, a task, an email. I’ll think it will take me 15 minutes – tops – and then have ample time to pack up and drive to school. Next time I look at the clock, it’s 3:15 and I’m flying out the door, praying for green lights.

My teenagers just nodded sagely when hearing what their little sister asked me. The more sassy one said “Yeah – we have the book on you Mum. You have to admit that when you say you’ll be there at 5:00, you are there at 5:10.”

I initially tempted to be rankled by her observation. Then I felt a wave of guilt. The sense that I was letting them down, or had done wrong somehow. But upon further reflection, my feelings quickly landed on acceptance. My children didn’t love me any less for my tardiness. Being late sometimes certainly hasn’t prevented me from achieving my goals, or living a full life. In the broader picture of issues and hindrances, being late isn’t a serious crime. At best, it’s a petty misdemeanor.

So I’ll try setting my clocks ahead a few minutes, and tame my ambitious impulse to fit in one more task before I have to leave for an appointment. And I’ll keep hoping for green lights, just to be safe.

 

Posted in: Ideas, Life Lessons, Motherhood

Not a Soccer Mom

27 August, 2012 2:41 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Ok, so I’m not a soccer mom. Our youngest loves to play and has been in the local league for three summers. Twice a week, I’ve taken her to the field. I pack snacks and water. I encourage and congratulate after each game.  That is pretty much where my support for the whole endeavour ends.

I don’t know the rules and I never follow the score. Frankly, I’d rather stick a fork in my eye than watch a soccer game. Or hockey. Or baseball. You get the idea. I’m simply not interested in sports. She obviously gets her athleticism from her dad, who played every sport as a child. Growing up in Union Corner, PEI, there wasn’t much else to do. (With all due respect to that beautiful community)

I bring a book. So does our middle daughter, when she decides to come. Now that she is older and can stay home by herself, she often opts out of coming to games. Not a soccer sister.

Once we arrived for practise just as a business matter was demanding my attention, so I stomped across the field in heels while issuing directions on my iPhone. As I ended the call, I realized that all the other parents were looking at me like I was an alien being. My daughter was unfazed. She knows what her mother is. I’m just not a soccer mom.

Rather than trying to be something I’m not, I like that she is learning that people can love and accept each other despite of differences.

Not a Soccer Mom

 

 

Posted in: Entrepreneurship, Motherhood, Work-Life Balance ⋅ Tagged: , ,