The single mom's arch enemy - The Time Monster

It's so bad, I don't even have time to write about it.

I realize that I can do approximately two things well at once. I can be a good parent, and I can hold down a job.

Or, I can be a good parent, and I can take care of myself. Taking care of myself involves going to the gym, getting to the dentist when my tooth cracks, having time to cook healthily, and/or getting enough rest.

Or, I can do three things on a mediocre level. I can sort of parent, kind of take care of myself, and make a half-hearted attempt at being a good employee. I alternate this with practically cleaning my house, and almost getting my car fixed. Let's say I've had two solid weeks of getting six half-baked activities practically accomplished. Mind you, I'm not really sleeping. Then, one of my friends breaks an arm, loses a parent, or has a kid's birthday.

Oh, fuck.

OK, so I can make an attempt at being a good friend, feed my kid microwaved and processed food, go the the gym twice, and get through the work I need to be doing by skipping two nights of sleep. (Not in a row. In order to balance everything else, I can't abuse drugs or Starbucks. It doesn't count if it was unintentional, like that time my doctor gave me Wellbutrin for PMS and I was up for 41 hours, but got a whoooole lotta of work done.)

But then I realize I have books that needed to go back to the library two weeks ago. And DVD's. So now I owe the library $50, and my car still isn't fixed, and I can't remember shit, because I haven't had a good night's sleep since 2003. And I still haven't mailed those get-well cards. Now my own kid has a birthday. And she gets several lovely gifts, most of which require assembly. With tools. OK, we cut out the gym one day. We put off going to the dentist. I can stick wheels on until 2am, but I'm definitely not doing laundry. The car will have to wait. Rewriting some web content will definitely have to go on the back burner until the weekend.

Oh, the weekend. Thank goodness for the weekend.

Except it's Sunday afternoon, and I have a week's worth of "oh craps" sitting in front of me...

Where's that Wellbutrin?

I'm sorry if I haven't sent you that get-well card yet, or a thank you card for all the support you've given me, or the fantastic gift you sent The Kid. I'm sorry if I haven't returned a phone call. Or two. I'm sorry if we haven't gotten together, or I keep rescheduling lunch because we've been sick, or suddenly it's Friday, and well past your lunch break.

I'm sorry. I don't mean it. I love you. I hope that we can still be friends, even if I'm having trouble keeping my head above water right now. It doesn't mean you're not incredibly important to me.

I'm really very tired.