Remember Me

People frequently ask me how I keep track of so many things without something falling off the list. I don’t! Usually it’s just a loaf of bread or an email that slips off the list, but every now and then I forget something more important.

With my day job as a sr. computer programmer analyst, my night job as a writer, and the always-on job as a single mother of four, the schedule is complicated. And because my youngest son, Roman, spends every other weekend (usually) and Tuesday nights (usually) with his dad, things get even more complex.

On the days Roman is at his dad’s, he still comes back to my house early in the morning to get ready for school. So last week, I got up on one of his away mornings and went through the usual routine. I unlocked the door, packed his lunch, made his breakfast, and had his clean clothes ready. He was running particularly late—which happens sometimes—so I made a checklist for him of everything he needed to do. He likes that structure even though he knows his routine. On the bottom of the list I drew a smiley face and wrote, “I love you!” Then I drove the 25 miles to my office.

I’d been at my desk for thirty minutes when I got a text from my daughter, who drives Roman to school every morning. (She was still asleep when I left.)

Why didn’t you wake Roman up for school today? We’re so late!

I double checked my calendar, and sure enough, he wasn’t scheduled to be at his dad’s the night before. While I was making his lunch and his to-do list, he was upstairs in bed! I was horrified.

There had been days when I stumbled sleepily in to wake him up and he wasn’t there. Oops. At his dad’s. And there had been days when I had to think a minute. Where is he?

But this hadn’t been one of those days. I had known he was gone (despite the fact that I’d tucked him in the night before and read a story with him.) I had done all the good-mom things in the morning without forgetting a single item on the checklist. Well, I did forget that one little thing …

He and I had a good laugh over it when I picked him up from school that afternoon, and he jokingly reminds me where he is sometimes, but he also admits he wakes up some days and isn’t sure where he is either, which makes me feel a little better.

Life is busy. Our lists are long. Cut yourself some slack even when the really big things slip your mind. And whatever you do, never say, “I would never forget …” because on a busy morning when you’ve been up working on the latest novel until 2:00 a.m., anything can happen.

Now, there was something I was supposed to take care of after writing my blog… what was that…