Domestically Challenged – Parenting Tips from Author Alana Morales

You know those moments in life that, as they are happening, you just know they are going to haunt you for life? Yeah, I had one of those moments today.As many of you know, my kids are both severely ADHD. Our son is gifted (which, if you wondered, is really really interesting on a daily basis) and in middle school which is terrifying. When you have a kid who is brilliant and they are put into a situation where they need to monitor different classes, you are in for a challenge.

We have been fortunate that Thing 1 has now been on the honor roll twice. In fact, today was the awards ceremony.

So, there I am in class, getting ready for the teacher who was going to watch my second period class when my phone buzzes in my pocket. It was a text from my husband. It reads:

“Hey, there’s plenty of parking by the gym when you get here.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. What the hell was he talking about and why was he already…

Oh. Shit.

For some insanely stupid reason, I had the time wrong in my head. I *knew* what time the ceremony was, but in my brain I didn’t need to leave until after my first class.

Which was after the start of the ceremony.

Have you ever been on one of those zero gravity rides where it feels like your stomach has suddenly replaced your brain inside of your skull?

Yeah, that’s how bad it felt.

Luckily, I work in a school that was able to help me out. I was out of there 5 minutes later. The ceremony started in 10 minutes and the school was at least thirty minutes away.

Well, thirty minutes when you follow the traffic rules.

I was able to hold the tears in until I reached the parking lot Then I lost it. I had gut wrenching, gulping sobs. I tried to call my husband but I hung up because I couldn’t speak.

In all my years of being a mom (because there have been so many) I have NEVER missed an event like this. EVER. I feel guilty about missing class parties, even though as a working mom they are pretty much impossible now.
As I pulled onto the freeway I became concerned. Not because I was speeding, but because I was worried that if I puked from crying I didn’t know where it was going to go. Luckily I had a pair of boots on the floor. Desperate times and all, right?

I know I take these things to heart too much, but its important to me to be at these types of events. My son worked damn hard to get on the honor roll – how could I completely and utterly screw this up?

As I sped along the side streets, all I could think was “Please God, don’t let me get pulled over.” I even vowed to not speed for the next five years if this happened.

A glance at the clock told me that the ceremony was already more than half over. I knew the chances of me arriving in time to see anything was slim to none, but I didn’t care.

I had to be there.

I parked, ran into the school and slowly crept into the gym, where I saw my son  standing on the rafters.

He had already received his award.

I saw my husband waving to me, but I couldn’t bring myself to go sit with him just yet.

Crap. I really messed up.

What if my son was mad? Even worse, what if he was disappointed? That would be unbearable.

After a few cleansing breaths, I joined my husband, but I couldn’t talk to him. How could I forgive myself for something I could have prevented?

In the end, I got to see our son with his award, but I missed him actually getting it. In the overall scope of things, should this event bother me this bad?

Probably not. But it does.

My son never said a word about me being late and thank goodness for that – I beat myself up enough for the both of us.

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I’m sure we’ll be back to the normal snark and humor next week, but this was just one of those days. You know how they talk about ‘teachable moments’ – this was like the opposite of that.