slight disaster leads to lesson learned

This morning I volunteered to help tally votes for all of the projects submitted to the science fair. (Sophie and her team tied for second place in their class so they qualified to present their science project at the fair...way to go soph!)

But anyway Doug is working today so i debated getting a babysitter for Penny or just bringing her with me. I decided i'd just bring her along. After all, she's a pretty mellow baby and she usually naps around 11 so she'd probably just sleep the whole time. (ha, ha, ha.)

I also debated bringing a sling or just using the carseat/stroller system. Eventually I decided against the system because it's too bulky and I didn't want to be in the way. So, i get her all fed and changed and get down to the car and about half way to school i realized i left the sling upstairs. Ok, big bulky travel system it is!

And that was just the beginning. It turned out to be a total disaster. I ended up being the only parent that volunteered and Penny woke up as soon as we got there. I sat down outside the auditorium and started totaling. I got through a few papers and then had to take penny out of her car seat. And then it was lunch time and all the rowdy kids came out for lunch and scared her to death with all their enthusiasm for a cute little baby. And then the wind picked up and blew my papers away and Penny kept crying so i decided to feed her. When Sophie's teacher came out to bring more papers she looked at me feeding Penny and trying to keep track of what i was counting, 19, 21 23, 26, 29, 31...with a pencil in one hand and the baby, bottle and blanket in the other. She kept asking me, "Are you ok, can I get you anything?"

"Oh, no. I'm good."

I finally get Penny back in her car seat so i can focus and Owen comes out with his class for lunch. He brings his chicken patty sandwich, diced peaches and tater tots over and sits by me. (This was actually pretty awesome.) But he was chatting and telling me about what happened in his class today. And this is me while trying to keep the binky in Penny's mouth and the papers from flying.

"Really, 52, 55...you got a sparkle card today, 57, 60, 63...wow!

The teacher comes out with more boxes and papers and I'm trying to move with the stroller and all my paraphenalia back into the auditorium where it's quieter. I'm scooting around crazy kids and over bumps and then the threshold to the auditorium. We get inside and i sit down with all the papers and 2 seconds later Penny totally falls apart. She wants me to stand up and bounce her but i can't add 22 different numbers and do that at the same time, so i just bounced her on my knee. By the time I got through all the papers, Ms. Donskoy had practically taken over and she was saying, "I think Penny is ready to go home."

I finally just gathered up everything, apologized a hundred times and strolled Penny out of there. Before we got to the school office, she was totally asleep.

What?!? Lesson learned. Always get the babysitter!