This is the first year of my kids’ school career that I’ve been available to attend field trips and I may have gone overboard volunteering this week. I went with my son and the band to Dave & Busters on Tuesday (see that post HERE)and today I went to Main Event with my daughter and the choir.
Neither trip was difficult by any means. But the combined social effort has completely exhausted me. On Tuesday I had my friend there as a buffer and social support, but today I felt completely awkward and unsure of what to do with myself. I spent very little time talking with the other adults and wandered around checking on kids almost the whole time. I know most of the kids from my days as their librarian and as much as they love me, I don’t think they really wanted me around. Not that they should. It was their fun day. I know my daughter was glad I was there, though, as she was very anxious about the trip (wrote about that HERE). I tried not to hover near her, as I know she can tend to lean on me too much in social situations and I knew she would have fun if she just let herself.
And thankfully, I was right. She had a great time and she and her friend even went to the arcade. She won a jackpot on one of the ticket games and had over 1,000 tickets to spend in the prize shop and somehow got two stuffed raccoons out of a claw machine and gave one to her friend. I was so relieved to see nothing but smiles from her every time I checked on her.
By the end of the day, I was completely exhausted. I just barely made it to pick up my son without falling asleep in the car. I brought him home, then had to go back to pick up my daughter from an after school group she’s in. When I got home, I took a nap. I don’t normally do that, but I was not going to make it to dinner if not. I didn’t want to get out of bed to make dinner, but I did. Thankfully, I had planned ahead and had a super easy meal planned. Ravioli and cheese bread. All heat-and-serve from Costco. I’d be in bed now, except I’m trying to give my watch a chance to charge. Though I might just leave it on the charger overnight and not worry about it.
Sunday my kids are being confirmed at church and my son will be getting baptized (my daughter chose to be baptized in August of 2020). I’m looking forward to it, of course, but it is yet another social occasion. I think it would be a good idea for me to find some self care for myself tomorrow that will refill my very empty gas tank. I’m not entirely sure what that should be, but something tells me reading may play a big part.
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