No way did I expect
to be up and out by 9:20 this Saturday morning ─ my scheduled indoor activity
day.
But it happened.
Not because I wanted
it to, but because it had to happen.
In a custody dispute
─ seeking full custody to remove his 12-year-0ld daughter from a horrendous situation
involving her stepfather, with mom calling her a liar, Trainer asked that
Thursday’s workout be moved to Friday.
“Sure, I’m flexible”
said I.
Then, on Friday, as I
was suiting up for the rescheduled workout, I get a message Trainer is now stuck
in court, filing paperwork, can I reschedule to 9:30 this morning, Saturday.
Having had the sole
responsibility of raising twin daughters, after divorcing their father, Trainer’s
plight took me back to all the times my work life was turned upside down ─ one or the other twin was ill or Twin 1 was misbehaving at school (parent/teacher
conference), Twin 2 was getting bullied or beat up at school (parent/principal
sit-down) or there was a school event one or the other wanted me to attend,
plus a myriad of other things necessitating my coming in late to work, leave
early, take a vacation day, and how difficult it was for employers to
understand.
It was difficult for
the twins to understand as well.
I didn't get much help and support from them. In fact, they seemed to resent
my not being there for them 24/7, saying once they wished I was like the
neighbor lady who was home all-day making cookies. I said I could do that as
well but, with me not working, we’d go hungry and end up homeless. I also
pointed out how ill-prepared for real life the neighbor lady’s children
were because she so controlled their every action, whereas they (my girls) were
allowed to do this that and the other.
That was my life as a
single parent to girls coming into their own, not understanding their words and
actions were sometimes making an already tough job even tougher and often threatened loss of that which enabled me to feed, clothe them, keep a
roof over our heads. (Their father was not in the picture during those hard
years. I was still in hiding from him.)
My own history making
me sympathetic to Trainer’s position, knowing this is just the tip of the
iceberg in what he’s about to experience in raising a daughter ─ soon to be a teenager,
my reply of course was “No problem. Good luck” BUT 9:30?
I’m generally an
early riser, but I don’t get ready to deal with outside until around 10:30/11:00.
On the other hand, this
morning was good practice for when I start participating in 5Ks again, as most
races necessitate being on-site by 6:30, which means up, dressed, fed and on
the road sometimes by 4:00 in the morning.
At any rate, Trainer is
having to shuffle more than just me around. His evening after-work client was
on her way out when I walked in this morning and, inasmuch as the courts are
putting him through hoops to get his daughter, my schedule of Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday, 11:45, is in jeopardy. Until all is said and done, days may be
shifted around, hours may change and he says training might be as late as 7:00 pm.
I don’t mind.
And while we’re on
the subject of the trials and tribulations of child rearing ... I was quite
impressed with myself when, on Thursday, Twin 1 messaged there’s an outbreak of
measles on Skid Row — where she and her group of volunteers go on weekends to
provide services for the homeless.
She was fairly
certain she’d been vaccinated as a child but wanted to hear me say for sure
“Yes, you’ve been vaccinated”.
I did her one better.
It took mere seconds
to pull her Immunization Record from 1967, take a snapshot indicating she and
her twin had been immunized at 10 months old, and message the photo to her.
I was terribly impressed
with my ability to ferret out the documentation so quickly, expecting to hear
back “WOW mom! This is impressive. You not only kept our original immunization
record, but knew where it was and retrieved so quickly”. Instead I got
“Thanks”.
Maybe it’s not such a
remarkable feat after all. Maybe all mothers are like me in that I don’t know
what I did with the eyeglasses I had in my hands a few seconds ago, but know
where 51-year-old baby documents are located.
Twin 1 and Twin 2 went
out and got booster shots the next day.
I’m thinking maybe I
should do the same before someone, or their unvaccinated grandchild or great grandchild,
brings measles into this complex.