One day, you feel like everything is going great. The next, it feels like it's falling apart. How quickly things can change...
Monday was a pretty exciting day. It was the first day of school and my daughter was excited to go to her new class and see many of her friends. It would also be her first with new responsibilities associated with being a walker, and while she was a bit apprehensive about it, knowing that so many of our neighbors would be walking with her, it wouldn't be a problem.
Monday was also my first day back in the office after being off for several days for our beach getaway. Normally, that would be reason for me to be depressed. Monday felt different, though, and I was anxious. It was probably a result of my daughter's excitement about school.
Work started out a bit crazy, and it got worse from there. Many of the things I had planned to do were usurped by bigger issues. Most notably, I received my first grievance from an employee in my 9 years as a manager. In addition, due to preparation for our manager's 2-day meetings on Tuesday & Wednesday, I had a lot of stuff that had to be completed before Tuesday. Not an impossible task, but something to keep me more busy than usual.
I got out of work on time, and I was able to track my daughter on her route home and meet her at the halfway point, driving her home the rest of the way. Our plan worked beautifully! Once at home, our typical routine of homework and playtime, followed by dinner, worked just like clockwork. We went to the grocery store after dinner to get a few important items, then back home we got ready and went to bed.
Tuesday was entirely different. I headed to work a little bit later than usual, which was fine due to our manager 2-day meeting, which didn't start until much later. There was an awards ceremony for our employees, who were going to get certificates of appreciation since we had no money for awards this year due to sequestration. This resulted in a bitter sweet party since our appreciation is no substitute for money. The manager's meeting was more difficult. We tried an exercise in sharing some of our deepest secrets and issues, which resulted in a teary-eyed group. The discussion continued deep into the afternoon, with the only break being lunch at our Chinese restaurant across the street, which was treated by our boss, and which we were deeply appreciative of.
I was pretty exhausted by the time we broke and I headed for Chick-Fil-A for dinner with my daughter and in-laws. It was a nice way to end the day, however I also was given information about a rough morning my daughter had with my sister, due to her not getting enough sleep. This is intolerable, and I immediately called my daughter on it. Turns out, her new iPhone is causing her to play too much in the morning, as well. New limits on phone usage and an earlier bedtime were the result. Further issues will be met with punishment. My daughter knows better than to act this way, especially so early in the school year, so hopefully this will make a difference. I made her call my sister to apologize, as well, and I just as well could've sent her to her room for a year, given how hard that was for her to do. She was embarrassed by her actions, that much was obvious.
Tomorrow is day two of our manager's meeting, and the hope is that it will be easier than today. School, too, should be much better. That's my hope. Now, though, it's bedtime.
Have a great evening, everyone!
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