And All The Balls Fall….

And All The Balls Fall…… What? So sometimes I drop the ball. You know, that old saying when someone who screwed things up owns that shit and says “ I dropped the ball!” and everyone kind of nods and says “no problem”? Only it really is a problem when you’re a single mom to three kids who depend on you to keep all the balls in flux. You know, the balls? Like homework, and doctor appointments and orthodontia appointments, and track meets and baseball games and, oh, meals? Sometimes, when all those things are juggling around like some vast circus in the air, sometimes it can be really, REALLY hard not to drop one. Especially when work is especially demanding and something like a cold or the flu throws a really sharp edge into your day, it can be even harder than usual to keep the juggling act flying. This time it was a doctor appointment. , a simple check-in for a child who has high cholesterol at a particularly young age and needs to be monitored by a physician. I knew about the check-in. It was on my calendar. I heard the reminder voice-mail. I had it on my agenda. How could I forget? The doctor is SO nice. She has answered my every semi-crazed call for help over the past year about all of my children. Child #1 has a croupy cough…could it be swine flu? Child #2 is extremely moody…could it be depression? Child #3 has a strange rash on his leg…staph? And I stiffed her. And my son missed his check-in for a relatively serious medical issue. I don’t know how I forgot. My brain says it was the intense meeting at work that distracted me, or the phone call Friday afternoon to discuss missing homework from the teacher of my other son. Maybe it was the email from the baseball coach, changing the time and date of practice? Or the in depth conversation with another child’s counselor that consumed my thoughts. Whatever it was that made that doctor appointment slide off as a blip on the radar, it still sucks. I dropped that ball like I had grease on my hands, and I am the only one to blame. But, really, what can I do now? Pick that ball up, reschedule and keep juggling. I have, after all, had much experience managing this show, and I know that sometimes, just sometimes, if you just grab that ball up and throw it back into the mix, sometimes not everyone notices. Or sometimes they do notice and it feels really shitty. But you have to keep juggling anyways.