What a Day I’m Having!

It is almost noon as I write this and already I have had quite a day. Two months ago when I took my son in for his well baby appointment, I made three new appointments, one for my daughter, one for my son, and one for me. I just needed a yearly check-up and it was scheduled for this morning at 9:20. This means that well in advance I arranged to have both of my kids in daycare.

Things were going well in preparing to get both of my children dressed, fed, and out the door at the same time…until I actually got them out of bed! It seems everything was against me today: my daughter spilled at least 6 ounces of milk on the carpet, my son was fussy, and the dog was disobedient. Then as we were heading into town, a large backhoe-loader was parked in the middle of the road, my only exit out of my neighborhood. We had to wait behind a brand new jacked up Chevy Silverado with ginormous wheels. Finally as the tractor moved, I thought I had a good chance of making it on time to my appointment.

Naturally, we ended up behind this ridiculous truck for the duration of the trip to daycare – and naturally it went 45 mph on the expressway! There wasn’t anyone directly in front of him either, I checked. Then whenever I would come to a stop sign, a traffic light, or a place where I need to turn my daughter kept asking me why I stopped. Ugh!

So we get to daycare and I took my kids to where they needed to go. The amazing thing is that my son didn’t cry when I handed him over at the nursery. At least that was a good thing. Feeling that I was pretty much on schedule I headed to the doctor’s office. When I get there I find it to be fairly quiet and empty. I check in at the front desk and the lady looks bewildered because she didn’t have me down on the schedule. She asks me to wait while she investigates further. After five minutes she calls me over to the counter and my doctor’s nurse is standing with her. I knew this wasn’t a good sign.

Mary – the nurse – tells me that they didn’t have me on the schedule and wanted to know when I made the appointment. Through gritted teeth I told her two months ago, and she shakes her head and regretfully tells me that there is NO WAY they can get me in today. She had to reschedule me for September! I am sure that the frustration was quite evident on my face as I was screaming inside.

So, now what was I supposed to do? My kids had only been in daycare for a half hour at this point. So I went to the local bagel shop and drowned my frustrations in a spectacular cappuccino and a slightly old copy of Condé Nast Traveler. After several articles on popular Croatian hot spots I calmed down enough to go pick up my children.

At least there is a silver lining: my daughter’s face lit up when she first saw me, and then I took my kids to the park where we had fun on the swings and playing in the dirt. I guess the morning wasn’t a total waste after all. I just hope the rest of the day goes a little smoother.