As we head into another week of the school bus strike, it feels as
though the intricate arrangements for getting my children to their
schools in the morning and home in the afternoon are not just a
temporary solution, but the new normal. Every thought process I go
through about activities presumes no school bus. Every imagined note to
a babysitter presumes no school bus. And yet, at any moment, it all
could change.
Throughout my life, I have had friends who made summer plans, five year
plans, and even life plans. Every so often, I've thought about doing
that. Even tried. Problem is, most of the time when I make plans, so
many of the underlying circumstances change, the plans no longer make
any sense. Take summer camp--which New York City families tend to plan
in January or February. If I set it up to make sure my kids are covered
if/when I am working, the scheduled weeks always end up to be weeks
when relatives come from far away and expect my kids to be available.
Work comes when it comes, so plans to go to meetings or school events
are almost always tentative. Maybe it's a family of five, maybe it's the
industry in which I work. Or maybe I am just not a person who was
meant to make plans.
So, while any day, we could back to having a school bus, any day we
could go back to me working long hours and having babysitters ride herd
at my apartment each afternoon, all I can--no, need to--deal with now is
now. The NOW normal. When things stop changing, I'll make some plans.
Don't hold your breath. The now normal changes just about every day.
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