The Fast and the Furious :: If Motherhood Were a Movie Title
My hair is half done.
My toothbrush is in my mouth.
Only half of my kids are awake and getting dressed.
I’m racing up and down the hallway to wake the late sleepers threatening their breakfast if they don’t get up right this instant.
We only have 15 minutes to leave before we’ll be late for school, but everyone needs to eat breakfast, snacks still need to be found and packed, and water bottles need to be refilled.
I’m already sweating as I clear off breakfast from one child and sign homework papers for another.
There’s never enough time, yet the “big morning rush,” as my oldest calls it, has commenced.
Is it supposed to be this way?
As a working mom, my brain never stops and life never slows down. There’s never a minute of rest or peace, just a different kind of noise and stress to manage from one place to another. Whether this working mom life is supposed to be this stressful and fast-paced or not, we have to live our lives in the fast lane and sometimes that comes with a side of road rage to whomever is in our path. We put our pedal to the medal and keep everyone alive and thriving as best we can from sunup to sun down. It’s a fast and furious life, this thing called motherhood.
At work, things don’t seem to slow down. While I still want to perform my best and shine at work, I have to keep the kids’ well-being at the forefront of my mind. Typing at my desk, I get a phone call from the orthodontist reminding me about an upcoming appointment for my son. Minutes later I get a text from my in-laws asking the time and location for another son’s baseball game tonight. In the middle of my meeting, I remember that I’m supposed to email a field trip form to my daughter’s teacher by today. By the time I walk out of the meeting I realize we have conflicting extracurricular activities this evening, so I text the husband to pick up the baby from daycare so I can get everyone else to where they need to be. It never seems to stop, whether in my head or on the road. Ask me if I gave 100% to at work today because of it all.
Fast Forward to the afternoon.
I have bat bags, uniforms, cleats, and leotards in the car ready and waiting for my ball players, gymnast, and dancer I pick up from school.
We have a tutoring session, tumbling practice, two baseball games, and dance class as our extracurriculars for this one evening. Yes, our family calendar looks like a hot mess.
Is dinner planned and done? Nope
Am I certain everyone will make it to where they need to be and wearing what they should be wearing? Probably not.
Did I check to make sure anyone’s homework was done? Kinda … verbally … in the car … They wouldn’t lie to me, right?
It’s a race against traffic, sibling fights, test grade explanations, and to-go snack crumbs in my car all standing in my way to get from point A to point B, C, D, E, and then F. It’s a mad rush, and it’s only Tuesday.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Jen, just plan ahead. Put dinner in the crockpot; pack the bags and snacks the night before. You can avoid some of this stressful rushing if you were more organized. It’ll save you time. Stop right there! Time?! There’s no time! There’s never any time! (Cue Jessie Spano singing “I’m so Excited!”). In case you haven’t figured it out already, we don’t get home from the ballpark until after 8:00pm. Even though my husband was able to pick up the baby and my oldest from tutoring, he swings by tumbling to pick up my daughter and make it home just before we do. Once we’re all home, we immediately start showers for the older kids while I scrounge up some sort of edible dinner. Meanwhile, the kids who aren’t showering are running through any homework needing to get done. And, before you know it, it’s almost 10 o’clock, and that’s when we just have to shut everything down only to start it all over tomorrow because they need their rest after all.
“I live my life a quarter-mile at a time.”
Maybe we’re doing something wrong. Can we really sustain this kind of life much longer? Is this keeping our kids happy and thriving? A mommy constantly on the go from one kid’s activity to the next is part of this role, right? I run on E both figuratively and literally to make sure my kids are living a well-rounded life. With a large family like ours, living life in the fast lane is just how we roll. At least it is for now. Will it slow down, ever? I have no idea. Maybe when they’re fully grown and out of the house it will, but that sounds so sad and boring. I do know this. I am happy my kids are exposed to opportunities and making memories while my ride-or-die and I are buckled in what feels like Vin Diesel’s souped-up Dodge Charger. So, until tomorrow’s hectic schedule, “We talkin’ or we racin’?”
