Take my Time, Please

When I tell people that all three boys are in school, it is very easy to get the wrong impression.

First of all, Nathan is in Kindergarten, which is only two and a half hours long. He goes in on the bus, and I pick him up at the school three hours later. Andrew is in school only three days a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuesdays he has Gymnastics class. In the end, I have three two-and-a-half hour time slots during to week to use as I wish.

Well, I went to the PTA meeting the other day and promptly signed away two of my free mornings. Well, every other week. One week I'll work in the library during the Kindergarten story-hour, and one week I'll work in the pod doing clerical work. Copying and sorting and cutting and whatever.

Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing, giving away my valuable free time, time I could be using to shop for groceries, or clean the house, or bake muffins, cookies, prepare dinners ahead of time for the rest of the week because our schedule is so crazy we're running out of time for cooked meals...

But when Nick found out I was going to help out Nate's class during Library, he was rather unhappy. He cried. "You never come to MY class for Library!"

"That's not true! I was there all last year, remember?"

"Then why can't you do it THIS year?"

"Because your Library time is on Thursday afternoons, and both of your brothers are at home, and I need to take care of them."

"It's NOT FAIR!"

So I promised I would speak to his teacher about any times they need special help in the classroom, and try to help out then.