I will admit that I am not familiar with all of the lingo of today's hipsters; however, I know what 'hot mess' means and I feel like that is the only way to describe this week. If you haven't heard 'hot' and 'mess' put together in one phrase, the best definition I can give is a situation or person personifying a disaster even if seemingly appearing to have things in order.
This was the first week back to school and Jackson's first week in the 2-3 Year Old class at nursery. I stuck to my plan of laying-out outfits the night before and used my friend's idea of packing lunches for the next day to stay organised and save time and panic in the mornings. I also even remained true to my promise of doing some chores every day to keep the house looking tidy. Man, I thought I had things really sorted, but as per the track record of my life, things of course went awry by Tuesday.
Monday was an inset day for teachers, so the real first day of school was actually Tuesday when the children came back. Jackson's nursery started opening at 7 A.M. so my new plan is to get to work earlier this year so that I can pick him up earlier in the evenings. We left at 6:30 and I drove through a torrential downpour which produced ponds on the sides of the road to get to Preston. This increased our driving time, but we still arrived a lot earlier than we used to. I pulled into the school parking lot (car park), feeling confident and organised to meet my students and I saw the head teacher walking through the rain to greet me at my car. But, as she got closer, I could see that she wasn't smiling. I said, "Good morning!" and she said, "Do you know you have a flat tyre?" Of course I do! And guess who forgot her cell phone (mobile)? Me! So instead of spending my extra time in the morning on my classroom by arriving 30 minutes earlier than I used to, I sat in my car waiting for the AA to change the tyre.
There were some bright sides to the situation: Although it was pouring down rain, I had made it to school and wasn't stranded on the road without a phone. The AA came within 20 minutes of making the initial phone call from the school's office. I had a spare tyre. That was about it, but I was thankful for all of these things.
I was determined that Wednesday was going to be a better day. I ensured my cell phone was in my purse (handbag) and the roads were clear, so our trip to Preston was going to be easier. We had turned a new page! I got ready by 5:50 A.M. in a sleeveless grey checked dress that zipped up the back with a black blouse to go with it. And the hairstyle of the day was of course a silver headband. Jackson and I arrived with no problems and by the time I got to work, I had 4/4 tyres filled with air. It was going to be a great day! Then at about 1:30 P.M., I realised that that morning, I was supposed to ask Lee to finish zipping up the back of my dress when he woke up at 6 o'clock because I couldn't reach it. But, I forgot that step. Just great! So I tried to keep on teaching while maniacally reaching for my zipper to correct my mistake. Through a frantic, sweaty struggle, I managed to look socially acceptable once more.
The only bright side to this was that I have long hair and I decided to wear my hair down which may have covered the mistake, but that's a stretch.
While wearing new shoes this week, I developed blisters on the backs of my ankles right above the heels. Wednesday, along with the zipper fiasco, I wore tights to create a barrier between where the shoe and ankle meet. I thought this would be enough to stop any rubbing, but it wasn't and I couldn't fix the problem without taking off my tights and applying band-aids (plasters). This would be a waste of time in my opinion, so I looked through my school supplies and found two mailing labels. They would do! I stuck them to the back of my tights and they created the perfect barrier--no more fiery, throbbing blister pain!
My other office resource fix of the week was a broken belt on Thursday which I fixed with a metal brad (paper fastener). I don't think anyone noticed these school supplies stuck to my body, but if they would have looked closely, they would have seen all the signs of a hot mess.
Friday, I picked Jackson up from nursery and noticed his new key worker was covered in hundreds of black dots on her otherwise pristine white uniform. She said, "You will need to give Jackson a bath tonight because he played in the mud today." Apparently, with two of his friends, they rolled around in the mud like pigs and were caked from head to toe. The nursery had to wash all of his clothes and his key worker rinsed his hair out and had to comb out the dirt chunks strand-by-strand. Jackson was a literal mess, not just a 'hot' one. I couldn't see any mud on him because the nursery did such a good job of cleaning him up, but I wish I could have seen the moment those three boys took a mud bath. It would have been so cute!
Finally: Saturday. We took Jackson to his first soccer practice and were not familiar with the lay-out of the parking lot for the church where we were supposed to park. We pulled into the front parking lot, but all of those spaces were taken so we followed a sign to the back that read "Church Entrance." But, this was in fact a car-width lane that led to nowhere and turned around the back of the church at right-degree angles. What happened was, we drove towards a brick wall, took a left turn towards another brick wall--expecting to see a few spaces available--and then turned a third time to an opening full of gravel and old tyres. This space also ended with a brick wall. After about 27 times of going forward and backing up again, we turned the car around and parked at the end of the entrance we first took because by this point, we were blocked in this bricked labyrinth and had no other option but to just turn the car off and go inside the church. In a fictional world, my soulmate would most definitely be Mr. Bean.
Now that you know what a 'hot mess' is and have examples of one, please take the time to help if you ever see a hot mess or at the very least, try not to add any comments or looks of judgement to make it any worse.
First day of the 2-3 Year Old Class
(Jackson doesn't like to pose for pictures anymore, so this is the best we could get.)
Taking a milk break after his first soccer practice
Family walk to see the ducks on Saturday
"Quack, quack!"
Talking to the ducks and whispering, "Hide," as they walked among the trees apparently hiding from us.
Choosing to only run down the path. He took a tumble not too long after this, but only a few scratches appeared on his hands from the chicken coop wire covered path.
Developmental updates: Jackson turned 23-months-old on Monday. He rivals the four-year-olds at nursery in height, so he often gets mistaken for an older child while we are out and about. His new words and phrases this week were 'tools,' 'home,' 'box,' 'here it is,' 'come on,' 'okay,' and 'house.' Lee and I played Simon Says with him but a version where Simon always says so that he doesn't feel like he's doing an action wrong which we feel will just confuse him. (For instance, if he hears "touch your toes," and he does, then we say it's wrong, at this stage, that may be confusing to a toddler.) On Saturday, Jackson went to his first soccer (football) practice. It was a free trial session with a company called Diddikicks to see if we thought it was a worthwhile programme and if Jackson enjoyed it. We really liked the age-appropriate activities, the fact that there were three coaches to handle the ten or so boys, and that the practice was held inside a church gym (hall, in the U.K.) and not outside in the rain. The best part of all was to see Jackson joining in with the training to the best of his ability and loving doing new things. After signing-up to the team which we did online when we got home, Jackson will receive a team uniform (kit) next Saturday.
If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.
