This is not going to be an argument about whether faster is better or multi-tasking is really bringing about the downfall of civilization—it is just a little musing on the reality of the single parent’s life—speed, movement, juggling, and perpetually feeling we are trying to catch up! I know that there must be people who are more organized and able to settle in and move at a mellower pace, but chances are they are not single parents!
There are probably people who greet Monday morning with a leisurely stretch and, as they look around the room, ask themselves “Hmmm…what will I do with myself today?” For most of us single parents, we start an early Monday morning by reminding ourselves of all the things that didn’t get done last week that we really need to get caught up on before we fall even further behind. Meanwhile, we are most likely trying to cram all the things we need to be absolutely sure we don’t forget to do in the coming week into our datebooks and brains.
There are those days when I want to laugh maniacally when someone says to me “Oh, no hurry, whenever you get to it”—If I was to wait until I had the time and focus to “get to it”—I would never get to it at all. Instead, I’ve learned the single parent trick of trying to attend to things as soon as they’ve been given to me before they slip to the back of the pile or fall completely off the plate.
We ARE moving as fast as we can; we are juggling jobs, duties, house, family, and all the other things that call out for attention and most of us single parents are doing a darn decent job of it—just as long as we don’t compare ourselves to anyone else, Martha Stewart, or two-parent homes with nannies, we can usually keep from bursting into tears as we dance…
Also: If I Could Clone Myself
How Much Can You Keep in Your Head?