May is for shleppers
By Pam Sherman | May 12, 2008
It’s been a while since I blogged. Mainly because I live in my car. Last week I drove my children around constantly. I counted four lacrosse practices, hebrew, bar mitzvah class, softball practice, school open house, library, and a lacrosse game. We couldn’t squeeze in Tae Kwon Do - because, we couldn’t. We just couldn’t. And the music lessons don’t count since my teacher comes to the house.
As I was sitting at a light by a graveyard I counted 8 vans (tan and white seem to be the most popular colors) with mothers in the front seat on the phone and children staring out the window wearing some kind of uniform. We were all waiting for the same light, driving our kids to their lives while we sat in the car on the phone NOT HAVING OUR OWN LIFE. My mother used to hire a driver to do all this. She did this because she was so busy trying to do something more than her mother did so she went back to school to be a therapist. After the feminist movement we now have choices. And we seem to all have chosen the tan van and the soccer field - AM I MISSING SOMETHING?
Someone told me it’s just the time of year. The rest of the year is not as busy. I suppose you can’t count ski club in the winter - - because all I have to do is pick him up at night not drive him there. Or in the fall, the sports seasons are so short they hardly count. But May seems to be the season where it all takes off. Every May I know it’s coming and I buck against it. Too much practice, too much driving. I tell myself I dont’ over-schedule my kids they are still exploring and shouldn’t I let them explore? But why does the exploration have to have practice twice a week and sometimes two games per week? There aren’t that many hours in a day. What about doing nothing? Or exploring your navel - - you don’t have to drive there. Oh wait yes you do, there’s yoga for kids every Thursday across town. I’ll see you in the parking lot, on the phone.
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