Life between the lines

There are lots of unscheduled extras that get squeezed into the interstices of the day when you have kids, as well as plenty of last-minute revisions to the plan. Yesterday was my first crazy Thursday of the semester. The night before, I rounded up and packed the bags--my backpack, my pumping bag, my insulated milk bag, my purse, Alice's gear bag, Alice's insulated milk bag, Edith's lunchbox--and rehearsed what seemed like a completely full calendar for the next day:

8:30 -- Drop off Edith at school
8:45 -- Drop off Alice at babysitter's house
9:00 -- Arrive at work, pump
9:15 -- Clean pump parts, store milk
9:25 -- Print handouts for afternoon seminar
9:30 -- Walk 1/2 mile up-campus to history department
10:00 -- Teach first history precept
11:00 -- Teach second history precept
12:00 -- Walk 1/2 milk down-campus to writing program
12:10 -- Pump
12:25 -- Clean pump parts, store milk
12:30 -- Attend job talk
1:20 -- Walk 1/2 mile up-campus to history department
1:30 -- Attend history lecture
2:30 -- Walk 1/2 mile down campus to writing program
3:00 -- Teach writing seminar
4:40 -- Meet Tom to...
5:00 -- Pick up Alice
5:10 -- Pick up Edith
5:40 -- Arrive home to make dinner, walk dog, eat dinner
6:45 -- Pick up babysitter from Girl Scouts
7:00 -- Drop babysitter at our house with Edith, take Alice with me and Tom to class at church
9:30 -- Arrive home from class, drive babysitter home, finish putting Edith to bed
10:00 -- Collapse

Then Thursday dawned, and the day suddenly looked like this:

7:30 -- Edith wakes up with eyes swollen and crusted shut, crying.
7:35 -- Soak Edith's eyes to get crust off so she can open them
8:00 -- Call pediatrician for an appointment
8:15 -- Call preschool to let them know Edith isn't coming; Tom cancels day at work
8:30 -- Drop off Edith at school
8:45 -- Everyone piles in car so Tom can drop off Gretchen, then Drop off Alice at babysitter's house, then take Edith to pediatrician
9:00 -- Arrive at work, pump
9:15 -- Clean pump parts, store milk
9:25 -- Print handouts for afternoon seminar
9:30 -- Walk 1/2 mile up-campus to history department
9:55 -- Take call from Tom about which pharmacy to use with our prescription plan. The news: Edith has pink-eye.
10:00 -- Teach first history precept
11:00 -- Teach second history precept
12:00 -- Walk 1/2 milk down-campus to writing program
12:05 -- Call Tom en route for full report from pediatrician and to suggest he inform preschool our kid was there for several days with an infectious disease
12:10 -- Pump
12:25 -- Clean pump parts, store milk
12:30 -- Attend job talk
1:20 -- Walk 1/2 mile up-campus
1:30 -- Attend history lecture
2:30 -- Walk 1/2 mile down campus to writing program
3:00 -- Teach writing seminar
4:25 -- Check email and find out (1) I have drafts of senior theses in my in-box, (2) there is a departmental faculty meeting at 4:30
4:30 -- Call Tom to rearrange pickup
4:32 -- Print senior theses
4:35 -- Attend faculty meeting
5:10 -- Leave faculty meeting early to meet Tom, Edith, and Alice
5:05 -- Pick up Alice
5:15 -- Pick up Edith
5:40 -- Arrive home to make dinner, walk dog, eat dinner, keep Edith from touching Alice
6:45 -- Pick up babysitter from Girl Scouts
7:00 -- Drop babysitter at our house with Edith, take Alice with me and I stay home to mind the contagious fort, Tom to class at church
7:00 -- Nurse Alice to sleep
8:00 -- Administer eyedrops, read Edith to sleep
9:30 -- Arrive home from class, drive babysitter home, finish putting Edith to bed
9:30 -- Having lost a workday, Tom stays at church to start writing sermon; preparing to lose the following day at work, I begin prepping for classes next week
10:00 -- Collapse