Kids-2, Sanity-0

If anyone was driving the streets of my town today and happened to pass me driving my kids to their soccer practices, they would have thought I was a lunatic.

I could not have made it any easier for my kids to be ready for soccer.  While they were at school, I got their clothes ready.  My daughter had an orthodontist appointment that I thought could take awhile so I wanted to make sure if we were running late we wouldn't be scrambling for shin guards and soccer shorts.

I called my son from the appointment to have him get water bottles and himself ready to go.  I also told him to make sure he had all of his stuff together.

My daughter and I arrived at home, hurried to get her changed , got cleats on and everyone was out the door.

The trick of today was that my kids had to be at 2 different soccer fields at opposite sides of town, at the same time.  Our town has asked that all sports conclude 1/2 hour before dusk because of the threat of the EEE virus.  Luckily, my husband would be home in time to help with pick up (again, same time, opposite sides of town and terrified if I'm late my kid gets bit by the deadly mosquito) but it was all me to get them to the fields.

My son is 13, so logically, I would drop him off first, with his cell phone , about 15 minutes early and then hoof it across town with my daughter.

Except he forgot his cell phone.  For the second time.  This is THE WHOLE REASON he has the cell phone. 

Lots of things were said in the car, lots of threats were made, and basically I said that he had 2 1/2 hours to get ready and it was unacceptable that he forgot his phone, especially since he had forgotten it the week before and I had already given him this lecture.

He has some apps on his phone and games and I told him that as soon as he gets home from school, we get the phone and he only gets it when he is at a practice.  I wanted to take it away completely, but the worrier in me won that argument.

Then, my daughter informs me that she forgot her water bottle.  Are you kidding me?  Is what I repeated over and over and over.  I was pretty much at my wits end when I got a call from my husband ,who had just arrived home and found my daughter's water bottle in the garage.  He was not frustrated by the children at all and happily offered to bring it to her.  I was ready to let her learn her lesson for remembering the ONE THING she had to bring, but who was I to stand in the way of Daddy to the rescue?

Then sitting on the soccer field, watching my daughter run around and even try her hand at being goalie, I was less and less annoyed and actually found myself smiling and realizing that even when my kids drive me absolutely nuts, I am a lucky, lucky lady and I wouldn't change a thing.