Yesterday I went through my long list of errands and crossed them off one by one. Dental appointment for me (it’s been two years since my last cleaning). Flu shot appointments for the boys. Set up new e-mail account with new college (this turned out to be a twelve step process). Called the benefits office. RSVPed to two parties. Parking pass for new college. Haircut appointment for myself. Sent flight info to in-laws. Got tomorrow’s flight added on to the frequent flier miles. And so on. I really hate doing boring errands, so I horde them all up for one painful day. Yesterday was a Day O’ Pain.

I’m still figuring out the childcare situation for next semester. I thought that my older son was going to the after-school program at his school. Turns out there’s a wait list. There’s also a waitlist for Fridays at my younger son’s daycare, so I found a babysitter on Fridays, but she won’t be able to get to his pre-school until 11:40 and he gets out at 11:30. I still have to sign him up for one activity on Fridays, so he’s not stuck in the house for a whole afternoon with Theresa.

And then there’s next year.

Ian is aging out of his special education pre-school, which he gets for free through the public schools. It’s not entirely clear if he’s going to be ready for Kindergarten on time. His academic stuff is fine. More than fine. His speech is catching up, though we’re not quite there yet. He can use sentences to ask for things or talk about his books, but the sentences have to be short and he has to be calm. If it’s a complicated thought, his words come out like a telegram. “Mom. Ball. Hole. Basement. Come with me. Get it.” Translation — “Mom, I put my ball down the hole in the kitchen floor. It fell into the basement. I want you to stop making coffee and come with me to get it. Isn’t this a fun game? Let’s do it a hundred more times.” He also has trouble with transitions. He likes to play with other kids, but he doesn’t have the speech skills to chat. He has weak muscle tone in his hands. Ian would probably need an aide to help him out in a regular Kindergarten.

What’s the school going to do with him? Well, it’s all a big poker game. Nobody is showing their cards. It will be cheaper for the school to ship him out to a special school rather than keeping in a mainstream setting. This, of course, would be a really bad thing for Ian. I’m not sure what their plans are, because they don’t tell you anything until the last minute. However, I have some suspicions. After two years of this, I’ve learned to not explode when I sense foul play, which is hard when your kid is involved. “Smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave.” I just have to come up with alternative plans. Very expensive alternative plans. Plans that are going to involve not getting a new kitchen next year. There’s no way that the SD knows about this blog, but it’s probably best to shut my mouth right now.

Anyhow, the special education poker game sucked up a lot of time yesterday.

As much as I hate doing errands, I kind of enjoy reading other people talk about the stuff that sucks up time in their lives. Geeky Mom has been printing out all of her academic papers, because it’s easier to read hard copies. Ianqui says to consider the trees. I’ve moved towards keeping .pdf files of academic research and newspaper clippings. In the past, these papers and clippings took up vast amounts of space. My dissertation research is in three cardboard boxes in the attic. Now, everything is on my harddrive. Pros — space, searchable. Cons — easily lost, hard to make notes, hard to read.

As the holidays approach, the errands will increase, as will my grouchiness. Make me feel better. Tell me what’s on your chore list.