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THESE are the kinds of days

that make Opera-Mommy-ing tricky.

12 noon, just as I was getting in the car to drive to the theater for a 2pm matinee, my phone rings.

"Mama? Mary [the lady she was staying with last night] needs to talk to you for a minute".

Turns out that Mary had to take her two young nieces to the airport and A wanted to go along to say goodbye (she's good friends with the two girls, who visit their aunt regularly). So far so good, but because A wasn't ticketed, she wouldn't be able to go through security with them. Mary couldn't reach my husband (who was playing the organ at his church gig) so the only thing left was to call me. In a city 600 miles away.

Er....

I was most assuredly NOT ok with the possibility of leaving A sitting at the airport waiting on the other side of the gate while the other three went through security, so we had to come up with something. (She's a sensible child, but airports are just too fraught, and there's no doubt we live in a world where erring on the side of caution is always preferable...)

Fortunately, my husband - somewhat notorious for being hard to reach by cellphone (sorry, dear, but it's true!) - answered the message I left him within 15 minutes, and we were able to come up with a plan (in the event, he went down to the airport with everybody else, thus one adult on each side of security). Bullet dodged!

MEANWHILE... I get word that the flood in my parents' basement is not rain breaching an old window frame, but some kind of a catastrophic plumbing problem and they woke up to a foot of water this morning (good thing I didn't need to call them to solve the airport crisis - they've been tremendous helping out in my absence, but that really WOULD have been the straw to break the camel's back!).

And all this on the way to the theater...

So, fellow Mommies, I offer this advice: get seriously used to multitasking ("quiet time" before a show? Obviously not!) and be prepared to rely on spouses and friends even more than the "average" mom!!! If it is possible for stage and home to erupt in rival dramas simultaneously it is almost certain to happen, so get used to the idea!

In the event, the last performance this afternoon was just fine. And now... homeward bound! I've enjoyed this gig, but I'm definitely ready to go home in the morning and can't WAIT to see my girl!

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