Am I mean, lame or really smart?

I had to attend an unusually late meeting last week at work. I knew about it in advance so I scheduled my mother-in-law to pick up our baby girl and my husband offered to pick up our other two boys from school. The meeting wasn’t supposed to end until 5 (yes, that is unusually late for me), but turns out we ran ahead of schedule so I was able to leave work around 4:40. None of this may seem all that interesting, and it didn’t seem too out-of-the-ordinary to me either, until something dawned on me…

…I had at least 20 extra minutes in my day when no one needed me because no one but me knew about my whereabouts. I felt like the guy who escaped Alcatraz for one brief, glorious moment.

So, what did I do? I decided to stop by my middle child’s day care. I needed to make a copy of our zoo pass anyway so he could attend next month’s field trip. I walked in and announced, “I know my kid’s not here, but all four of my kids (my husband being the oldest) are together and I have time to hide.”

The funny thing is, both of the ladies at the front desk just nodded in complete empathy and told me to take a seat. They made my copy and allowed me to sit in peace. They are mothers too…and all mothers know how sacred quiet time can be.

I contemplated making a road trip to Canada when I returned to my car, but instead opted to go home (after all, the dogs needed to be fed and my second full-time job was about to begin). My 20 minutes of freedom was brief but outstanding.

-H