3pm eternal: no cause for alarm

WELL there’s a first for everything isn’t there.This week something happened that has never happened before. Something bad.

This week, Tuesday to be precise, I slept through my alarm.

Not my morning alarm, which would have been fine, Joel or Maia would have woken me.

My other alarm.

I don’t usually nap anymore. It was a necessity when Leo was a baby, but now, I get by without. Normally he only wakes once in the night. Twice at most. (Occasionally he’ll sleep through ...) Not Monday night. Or the night before. He had an ear infection, so as well as being very hot, there was lots of coughing and snuffling and generally wanting me.

After nights like this, if I’m on my knees, (like Tuesday) I’ll close my eyes for half an hour between lunch and school pick up.

(PICK UP. Where I collect my daughter from school. That thing.)

That thing I did not do on Tuesday because I slept through my afternoon alarm. Both of them.

I woke at 3.37 (my alarm was set for 2.25 with a follow up at 2.30?!).

Pick-up is at 3.25.

Obviously, this was the one day I decided to let Joel have the car. (He did the morning school run and it was raining so..) I was looking forward to collecting Maia on foot that afternoon, a brisk 20-minute walk. But collecting her would involve being conscious at 3pm, which of course I was not.

3.38: What to do. What to do. Legging it over there would be fine if I was alone, but the rigmarole of hastily waking Leo and hoping he’d be compliant in sitting in his pushchair (he wouldn’t) seemed a less favourable option.

The thought of Maia stood there, alone, wondering where on earth her mother was, exacerbated my panic.

This is the part where, in hindsight, I absolutely should have woken Leo, got him into his pushchair and sprinted to school. I did not do this.

Instead, I called my Mum, failed to get through, so tried the home number. Which my Dad answered.

“Would you like me to collect her?” he said softly.

Of course I said “Yes please” when I should have said “no, thank you”.

Misjudging the timings and utterly delusional, I believed in that moment that my Dad (whose mobility is far from great and has a disabled parking badge) would be there in a flash. Good decisions are rarely made from a place of hysteria.

Maia was, eventually, collected from school. My poor Dad, who should never have been dragged out in Tuesday’s grim weather with his Zimmer frame, saved the day.

Happy to see her Grandad, but understandably not so thrilled with me, I was justifiably reprimanded that evening for my negligence.

I am still requesting her forgiveness.

I’ve learnt several lessons from this painstaking ordeal.

Firstly, never ever have a nap if you have somewhere to be at a certain time, it’s far too risky.

Second, running to the school will always be faster and less torturous than the minutes/years I spent worrying and waiting for Grandad to call and tell me they were home safe.

Lastly, to contradict my first lesson, if you are to take a nap (don’t), avoid wearing earplugs so effective you fail to hear your own alarm.