One Mother’s Day I received a card from my son that included a magnet. On the magnet is Wonder Woman, shown in a sprint with a grocery bag in one hand and a cellphone in another. The words “Mom’s got it under control!” are bolded alongside her.
The magnet has a place on a filing cabinet in my office and serves as a subtle reminder that I am not only expected to keep things under control at work, but also at home. As I breezed past the image recently I was somewhat insulted. I didn’t have it under control, and I resented the fact.
It started with getting off my schedule with laundry. I typically start on Saturday with the weekly washing and have everything folded and distributed back to their owners by late Sunday evening. It’s a very sexy way to spend free time. Well, this particular weekend we had a houseful of kids, a Big Ten Championship game on the line and Selection Sunday soon to follow. Laundry duties did not take priority.
I found myself shoving my first load in early afternoon Sunday and folding the remains late Monday night. I was not a happy camper. Further, it’d been a busy day scrambling to balance work duties, including some significant breaking news, with home duties like semi-annual dental cleanings and fourth-grade homework. My husband, God bless him, made a wonderful dinner. Then he laid on the couch and watched TV.
Meanwhile, I discovered I had forgotten my son’s Lunchable. He had a field trip the following day, one which I was helping to chaperone. As any parent knows, the kid doesn’t want you to make a delicious homemade sandwich with the food you have on hand, he wants you to drive back into town for the Lunchable. At the same time I was on email work duty, waiting for a news release regarding the earlier breaking news.
En route back home, pizza lunchable in tow, I checked my email while driving (I know, mom. Not cool.) and noticed the release had come in a few minutes earlier. I sped home (yeah, I know, mom.) and raced for my laptop.
I’m kind of psychotic when it comes to breaking news. I want accuracy, I want details and I want it posted two minutes ago. In this particular manic mode I dropped the groceries and headed to my bedroom with my computer, as to avoid my television-watching husband.
As I opened up my laptop I discovered the battery was dead. I searched for my charger and came up empty handed. Expletives were shared. Finally, my husband realized he had borrowed it and quickly handed it over.
When I finished writing the update, and started the process of posting it online, my phone sounded. It was an alert. From a Des Moines newspaper app. About the story I was just posting. That’s when the meltdown occurred.
I shouldn’t be as competitive as I am, but I can’t help it. In this situation, while I had volunteered to pitch in on keeping an eye out, I also decided I needed to provide for my kid. It definitely fell into one of those work/home balance things that is always suggested to women. As much as it ticked me off to be scooped on a story my reporter had dedicated quite a bit of time to, it was evident far more people would be looking to us for the update.
It was after that I finished my laundry and decided to forfeit work emails for snuggling with my kiddo. As far as he knows, I have it under control.
Contact Abigail Pelzer at 641-792-3121 ext. 6530 or apelzer@newtondailynews.com