The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

It all started Monday. I spent all night Sunday editing and writing and basically getting my grind on. I woke up Monday feeling the pressure of an upcoming deadline, but I had to go take my daughter to the dentist.

It’s raining, so I get her and her brother all bundled up and we rush out to the car. I get soaked. We get to the dentist’s office and run through the rain into the lobby. I find the office and we go inside.

After handing over my insurance card, they make a few calls and usher me over. “Um, your insurance isn’t accepted here.”

“What?”

“Yeah, um, you have to pick an in-network provider and we’re not in your network.”

I take a deep breath. “But when I called the nurse, she verified my info.”

“That was a mistake, then. You could pay out of pocket. Your total today would be $235. Would you like to go ahead with the appointment?”

“Um, no,” I say, motioning to my kids to get their coats back on. The hell? Like I have $200 to drop unexpectedly. Heck, the $15 co-pay was gonna make me cringe. We’re outta here.

Frustrated, I drop my daughter off at school, where she clings to me and asks me to stay with her. “What the heck, chile. Go in your class. Have a great day. Love you.”

My son and I go home and I start working. Something tells me to check my school email, which makes me check my syllabus. Oh, great. I discover I’ve got an 8-page paper due today. In three hours.  And a presentation.

SHOOT.ME.NOW. The end of the semester was supposed to be the cool-down. WHERE IS THE COOL DOWN?

I get to class late because I’m finishing up my paper and presentation. As a result, my usual spot close to the building is taken. I have to park a couple buildings away. I find a parking space five minutes away and realize I have no umbrella. It’s still pouring rain.

“%$%*&*^%E#” is what runs through my head. I run to class and arrive soaking wet, and consequently I’m cold the rest of the two-hour class.

I finally make it home, and as I settle on the couch, I hear my daughter coughing upstairs in her room, aka an asthma attack is coming on. WHAT IS GOING ON?

I give her a puff of her inhaler and tuck her back into bed.

I then spend the next eight hours working. At 5 a.m., I crawl into bed. Wake up late (at 8), just in time to give my daughter a quick kiss before she heads off to school.

I work all morning to make my noon deadline. Then.

THEN. At 11:35, Word crashes.

It brings up a “repaired” version of my document, that doesn’t have the edits I made from 2 a.m. onward. I cry. Seriously. That was like 200 edits that I have to find all over again.

I put my son down for a nap and try to hurry. As soon as I hit send on the edit, my daughter’s school calls. She’s sick. I need to pick her up.

No, no, no, no. She was just sick two weeks ago. I hate seeing her sick.

I go upstairs to wake my son up, who fell asleep in my bed. I roll him over and realize he peed all over my sheets, blanket AND iPad. Goody.

I peel his clothes off and change him. Hmm…he feels warm too. “Oh, no!!!” I scream in my head. Only thing worse than one kid being sick is two kids being sick.

Today is just not my day, I realize. I rush up to the school and pick up my daughter. She’s leaning on her desk, looking pitiful. “She’s been coughing all day,” her teacher said. “I probably should have called you earlier. Was she feeling okay this morning?”

I sigh. “I don’t know – I only saw her for a minute this morning.”

She doesn’t want to walk so I carry her to the car. She’s almost my size, so it’s rough. (Yes, I’m that short that my five-year-old daughter comes up to my boobs.) She falls asleep almost immediately. And I can’t even describe how bad I want to do the same.

This was one of those days when I just want to curl up and sleep and hit reset. Just….ugh.

How long has it been since your last terrible, horrible, no good very bad day?