The forgotten appointment

School mornings are always hard for the kids. No matter how I try to get them into bed by their bedtime or how much sleep they get, they’re still really tired in the mornings. We are just NOT morning people! But I get up early, and they get up early, on the school mornings because, yeah, they’ve got school, and I’ve gotta take them to school.

This morning, however, both of the kids were just really, really tired. They seemed to have no energy. Jesse ended up being late for school and Jennifer was going to be late, too, except for something that happened that sorta kept her from going to school at all today.

Earlier this year, I had made an appointment for Jennifer’s annual eye exam. At the start of this month, I knew her appointment was … sometime this month! But I couldn’t remember when. I usually write all the appointments on the bedroom calendar (and the kitchen calendar, if they are school-related). But I didn’t see the appointment for her eye exam on my bedroom calendar.

I’d forgotten to write it down on the calendar. Argh! And I couldn’t remember where I’d originally written down the info about her appointment. Perhaps some random scrap of paper. So I made a mental note to check the one drawer we have that contains scrap paper, on the chance it would be there.

Now back to this morning. Jennifer told me she was low on energy and she wasn't able to get ready for school fast enough and I ended up getting her to school late. So there we were, in the school parking lot, and she asked me to write her a note for being late. I keep a small notebook of paper in my purse so I pulled it out to write her a note. After I wrote the note and tore it out of my notebook, I saw something familiar on another page of that notebook: Some notes I’d made about Jennifer’s LAST eye exam! I hurriedly opened the notebook to that page and, sure enough, there was the info on her appointment. Her appointment being on December 11th. Then I thought, Hey, wasn’t yesterday the 10th?

I asked Jennifer what today’s date was. She checked her phone and said it’s the 11th. I freaked! I said, “Oh, my God! Jennifer, you have an eye doctor appointment today!”

She tensed in her seat and asked what time her appointment was. I told her what time, which was before she’d get out of school and, like, a few hours from then. She did a double take and looked at me with alarm. “Mom!!”

It was pretty clear she wasn’t going to school today now, after being so late and hardly having much time to be there since I’d have to pick her up early for her appointment.

As I drove her home, I tried to lighten the mood. “Well, at least you’re dressed. And we got to go for a nice drive.”

She stared daggers at me. As if she was saying, “Grr! WHY DID YOU WAKE ME UP FOR SCHOOL WHEN I DIDN’T HAVE TO GO??!!”

I am just glad I found out when her appointment was and that I got her there on time. Even if it wasn’t exactly a good way to find out.

Next time, I gotta remember to put these things on the calendar!