Missed FallFest
A big part of my life these days involves sifting and sorting, deciding what has the highest priority for my limited time and resources. I have two teens. The youngest is 14 and the other will be 16 next month. I'm a home-based charter school Learning Coach for the 14 year old, my 16 year old has special needs involving a lot of doctor appointments, and often it feels like I'm juggling. I'm up at 5:45 giving the 16 year-old his first G-tube feeding of the day, supervising the education of the youngest most of the day, and at 9:00 at night I can be found on the expressway, driving him home from acting class. By 10:30, if I'm not already in bed, I know I'll be sorry the next day. I feel like I am using up all of my resources on this last big push of parenting. I have little time, energy, or money left for much else. And if a cold or a virus hits, I know I need to slow down and take extra care or things will ugly.
Every year, the wonderful folks at the Vegan Vortex organize a wonderful event called Fall Fest, which includes a Witch's and Wizard's Ball and an all night alchemical fire circle called Bone Dance, as well as many other enriching opportunities. This year I registered to go to both the Witch's and Wizards Ball and Bone Dance, and was unable to go to either one. The night of the ball, the plan was to take the young man to class, then take him home and go to the ball afterwards. We stepped out of the house, and the battery was dead on the car. My husband has just driven it 10 miles, and said that it was nearly dead when he had started it earlier. Since it didn't charge on the drive home, I didn't want to start it, drive it across town, only to end up stuck again. My husband attached the battery to a charger, which he unplugged that night before we turned in. The next morning, it was dead again, but fortunately it's a manual transmisson and my husband knows how to push-start it and we were able to get it to the shop. If we had gone out the night before, we would have needed to either park on a hill with lots of room or get someone to help us push or jump start us every time we turned off the car, and it still might not have made it through the night. I think it's one thing to start your car and be surprised by battery trouble, but it's another thing to take off for the night expecting it.
The night of Bone Dance, I didn't go because I had just recovered from some sort of virus with a scratchy throat and I needed to rest. I lay in my bed, warm and comfortable, thinking about everyone singing and moving around the fire.
I sometimes feel guilty that I can't do everything that I want to do, especially if I RSVP, like I did for these events. I didn't cancel my RSVP because I didn't know exactly the best way to do it. If hundreds of people are invited to an event, I don't know if they really want the message boards clogged up with people saying, "I'll be there in spirit!"
How do other parents of teens drive them to sporting events, evening classes and social activities, night after night, and still have time for a life of their own?
This experience has made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I used to be very active and involved in my local community, volunteering at every opportunity and showing up as often as possible. Now I feel like I am neglecting my friends and my social life. But in another two years, the boys will have lives of their own, and I'll be thankful for other things to fill my time.
Every year, the wonderful folks at the Vegan Vortex organize a wonderful event called Fall Fest, which includes a Witch's and Wizard's Ball and an all night alchemical fire circle called Bone Dance, as well as many other enriching opportunities. This year I registered to go to both the Witch's and Wizards Ball and Bone Dance, and was unable to go to either one. The night of the ball, the plan was to take the young man to class, then take him home and go to the ball afterwards. We stepped out of the house, and the battery was dead on the car. My husband has just driven it 10 miles, and said that it was nearly dead when he had started it earlier. Since it didn't charge on the drive home, I didn't want to start it, drive it across town, only to end up stuck again. My husband attached the battery to a charger, which he unplugged that night before we turned in. The next morning, it was dead again, but fortunately it's a manual transmisson and my husband knows how to push-start it and we were able to get it to the shop. If we had gone out the night before, we would have needed to either park on a hill with lots of room or get someone to help us push or jump start us every time we turned off the car, and it still might not have made it through the night. I think it's one thing to start your car and be surprised by battery trouble, but it's another thing to take off for the night expecting it.
The night of Bone Dance, I didn't go because I had just recovered from some sort of virus with a scratchy throat and I needed to rest. I lay in my bed, warm and comfortable, thinking about everyone singing and moving around the fire.
I sometimes feel guilty that I can't do everything that I want to do, especially if I RSVP, like I did for these events. I didn't cancel my RSVP because I didn't know exactly the best way to do it. If hundreds of people are invited to an event, I don't know if they really want the message boards clogged up with people saying, "I'll be there in spirit!"
How do other parents of teens drive them to sporting events, evening classes and social activities, night after night, and still have time for a life of their own?
This experience has made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I used to be very active and involved in my local community, volunteering at every opportunity and showing up as often as possible. Now I feel like I am neglecting my friends and my social life. But in another two years, the boys will have lives of their own, and I'll be thankful for other things to fill my time.