Last year I forgot both kids' school valentine's parties, because they fell on Friday the 13th right between Taz's annual bout of pneumonia and his fifth surgery and because I had to attend a CLE seminar that day to finish my credits for the prior year before the $100-penalty deadline.
So this year, I planned ahead.
I have become a Google calendar fiend. I use it to track our vast number of special needs appointments, work and class schedules, soccer and gymnastics practice, bill payment deadlines. . . you name it.
If you can name it, I track it!
I remembered to buy both kids' party stuff, candy and cards at BigLots, Michaels, Sams Club and Krogers, while I had 20-50 percent-off coupons in hand and money in the bank. No mean feat in this economy when every penny counts.
I scheduled time on Wednesday night to organize, label and package each kid's party items at the kitchen table, while dinner was cooking in my crock-pot and dh and I were discussing this week's appointments.
I sent Jessie off to Omega Academy yesterday morning laden down with Valentine's candy, party decorations and a yummy cookie cake, which she personally picked out at the store, and I scheduled time to make Taz's GFCF brownie hearts last night, while cooking Chinese in my new Sams Club rice cooker/steamer.
Yes, that's right, you did not misread.
I have become SUPERMOM.
I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan and clean up the dishes, all while maintaining my sanity as the best mother to two special needs children on the planet.
. . .
NOT!!!!!!!!
NOT!!!!!!!!
This is where Nianya's Law kicks in and my super mom story falls apart.
Nianya's Law for parenting special needs children states that "If anything can go wrong, it will, at the worst possible moment."
So what does that have to do with Valentine's Day this year? It's not like today is Friday the 13th again. . .
Yesterday, Taz had his first appointment at a new pediatric dentist, who specializes in working with special needs children. I scheduled Taz's appointment in the early afternoon, during his most medically cooperative time of day.
Unfortunately, that meant that we also had to check Jessie out of school 30 minutes early, because the dental office is located a good 40 minutes from our home and we would be gone for several hours.
When I consulted my calendar the night before, I briefly panicked at the thought of having to check Jessie out early on her Valentine's party day.
Then, I remembered that it was the last day of school before a week-long winter break and, since the kids have lunch at noon and get out at 1:30 each day, I figured that the party would start at lunch and be going on for a good 30 minutes before Jessie had to leave.
More than enough time for the Jessinator to eat her fill in candy, cookies and cake.
Again. . .
NOT!
Apparently Jessie's teachers are a lot smarter than I am, because the kids had an early lunch and went back to work before the party. We arrived at the very last minute to pick her up. . .
exactly 5 minutes before the party started!
As we bustled Jessie into the car with an already stimming Tazmanian Devil, one of the teachers thanked me for the cookies, candies and favors that we brought for the party and assured us that they would pack up Jessie's goodie bag and send it with a friend to soccer practice last night.
We were already on the road, before it dawned on me that, not only had Jessie missed her party, but we didn't even have a bag of goodies to munch on for the 40 minute drive.
So what about Taz you ask?
It's not as if his party is ruined, since his party is scheduled for today and I already have everything ready. I even remembered to tell his teacher yesterday, when we checked him out, that I would put all of Taz's goodies in his backpack, so he wouldn't forget them. . .
. . . and I was fully prepared to spend all last night cooking yummy GFCF brownie hearts, one mini-heart-shaped-pan at a time. . .I only have one pan, so I have to keep refilling it and putting it in back in the oven for 15 minutes at a time.
Nianya's Law. . .AGAIN!
Last night, as I was cleaning the kitchen and preparing to bake the brownies, I started noticing my Facebook friends' comments about grocery store panic and getting stuck in the house for yet another weekend.
I'm like, come on, this is HotLanta, not the Midwest, Northeast or Washington D.C.
It never snows here.
Um, well, except for that 5-day extra long weekend last month when we got 2 inches and could not get out of our driveway, much less up the steep hill of our street.
But, come on, people, it's the middle of February and General Beauregard Lee swore we'd have an early spring.
Again, NOT!
In a last minute ditch effort to save Valentines, I opted not to make the brownies last night.
Given Nianya's Law, I figured, if I made the brownies, they would close the schools and, if I didn't, they would not. Taz would have to party without his brownies, but at least he would get to party.
So dh and I watched the news and the web last night and waited and waited and waited some more, while the list of school closings grew county-by-county. After the 10 o'clock news, Dh happily declared that there would be school today.
Um, NOT!
Sure enough, at exactly 11:10 pm, while listening to Hope for Haiti Now on the iPod and snuggled in bed with hot tea and a good book, my Blackberry started the telltale text message buzz and tune. I didn't even have to pick it up to know that it was the school system notifying all of us super moms, who signed up for instant text alerts, that the schools were closed for Friday.
I think it's time I added a caveat to Nianya's Law: "There's not a damn thing you can do about it, so just suck it up and move on."
Nianya
P.S. I still claim title to the Greatest Special Needs Mom on the planet, since I'm up blogging before the crack of dawn, while facing another weekend stuck in the house with the 7yo #ASD/ADHD Tazmanian Devil and, while he may have a snow day, I DO NOT.
I telecommute, so I have to work come rain, snow, sleet or Biblical flood (which I might add that we suffered through last fall).
P.P.S. Not only did we get 4 inches of snow that day, which I might add was the Friday before another 5-day school holiday weekend, but when Taz finally went back to school the next Thursday I forgot to include his Valentines. I mean come on, who celebrates Valentines a whole week after the fact. Apparently the 2nd grade! UNCLE
Nianya's Law for parenting special needs children states that "If anything can go wrong, it will, at the worst possible moment."
So what does that have to do with Valentine's Day this year? It's not like today is Friday the 13th again. . .
Yesterday, Taz had his first appointment at a new pediatric dentist, who specializes in working with special needs children. I scheduled Taz's appointment in the early afternoon, during his most medically cooperative time of day.
Unfortunately, that meant that we also had to check Jessie out of school 30 minutes early, because the dental office is located a good 40 minutes from our home and we would be gone for several hours.
When I consulted my calendar the night before, I briefly panicked at the thought of having to check Jessie out early on her Valentine's party day.
Then, I remembered that it was the last day of school before a week-long winter break and, since the kids have lunch at noon and get out at 1:30 each day, I figured that the party would start at lunch and be going on for a good 30 minutes before Jessie had to leave.
More than enough time for the Jessinator to eat her fill in candy, cookies and cake.
Again. . .
NOT!
Apparently Jessie's teachers are a lot smarter than I am, because the kids had an early lunch and went back to work before the party. We arrived at the very last minute to pick her up. . .
exactly 5 minutes before the party started!
As we bustled Jessie into the car with an already stimming Tazmanian Devil, one of the teachers thanked me for the cookies, candies and favors that we brought for the party and assured us that they would pack up Jessie's goodie bag and send it with a friend to soccer practice last night.
We were already on the road, before it dawned on me that, not only had Jessie missed her party, but we didn't even have a bag of goodies to munch on for the 40 minute drive.
So what about Taz you ask?
It's not as if his party is ruined, since his party is scheduled for today and I already have everything ready. I even remembered to tell his teacher yesterday, when we checked him out, that I would put all of Taz's goodies in his backpack, so he wouldn't forget them. . .
. . . and I was fully prepared to spend all last night cooking yummy GFCF brownie hearts, one mini-heart-shaped-pan at a time. . .I only have one pan, so I have to keep refilling it and putting it in back in the oven for 15 minutes at a time.
Nianya's Law. . .AGAIN!
Last night, as I was cleaning the kitchen and preparing to bake the brownies, I started noticing my Facebook friends' comments about grocery store panic and getting stuck in the house for yet another weekend.
I'm like, come on, this is HotLanta, not the Midwest, Northeast or Washington D.C.
It never snows here.
Um, well, except for that 5-day extra long weekend last month when we got 2 inches and could not get out of our driveway, much less up the steep hill of our street.
But, come on, people, it's the middle of February and General Beauregard Lee swore we'd have an early spring.
Again, NOT!
In a last minute ditch effort to save Valentines, I opted not to make the brownies last night.
Given Nianya's Law, I figured, if I made the brownies, they would close the schools and, if I didn't, they would not. Taz would have to party without his brownies, but at least he would get to party.
So dh and I watched the news and the web last night and waited and waited and waited some more, while the list of school closings grew county-by-county. After the 10 o'clock news, Dh happily declared that there would be school today.
Um, NOT!
Sure enough, at exactly 11:10 pm, while listening to Hope for Haiti Now on the iPod and snuggled in bed with hot tea and a good book, my Blackberry started the telltale text message buzz and tune. I didn't even have to pick it up to know that it was the school system notifying all of us super moms, who signed up for instant text alerts, that the schools were closed for Friday.
I think it's time I added a caveat to Nianya's Law: "There's not a damn thing you can do about it, so just suck it up and move on."
Nianya
P.S. I still claim title to the Greatest Special Needs Mom on the planet, since I'm up blogging before the crack of dawn, while facing another weekend stuck in the house with the 7yo #ASD/ADHD Tazmanian Devil and, while he may have a snow day, I DO NOT.
I telecommute, so I have to work come rain, snow, sleet or Biblical flood (which I might add that we suffered through last fall).
P.P.S. Not only did we get 4 inches of snow that day, which I might add was the Friday before another 5-day school holiday weekend, but when Taz finally went back to school the next Thursday I forgot to include his Valentines. I mean come on, who celebrates Valentines a whole week after the fact. Apparently the 2nd grade! UNCLE
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