None of the Ashes; All of the Guilt

So, today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I should have gone to church, and in years past I've tended to be very observant of this day on the religious calendar. This year, it's all passed in a blur. I have been thinking a bit about whether or not I'll give anything up this year, and I haven't decided. I'm nearing the point of committing again to a regular exercise regimen and a healthy diet, but I dislike that kind of thing as a Lenten commitment. For me, things like committing to doing more charity work or more Bible study or devotionals seem more on track.

Not one to miss out on anything, however, I did not let the fact that I did not attend a service that would encourage me to think about atoning for my sins prevent me from piling up a few more items to regret over the next few weeks. Life has been hectic here. I leave for the NASSP convention tomorrow afternoon, so I've been running at full-tilt at work preparing both for the presentation and for being out of the office for two days. My Junior League committee commitments are also at their peak right now, and I've had late meetings the previous two evenings. I came home today intent upon having a nice dinner with the family and a calm evening.

It didn't happen. I arrived home at about 7:00 having run errands all afternoon and then picked up Soccer Boy from daycare and Gym Girl from the gym. It was clear that Adventure Guy was not in the best mood. We got dinner on the table, but the tenor was not quite what I had hoped. Everyone was a bit on edge since the kids had not been as responsive as they should have been to being asked to take care of some things around the house. After dinner it went downhill from there when Swim Chick needed help on her Algebra homework. She tends to completely shut down if she doesn't know how to do a problem, conveniently "forgetting" things she's been able to do routinely for months. Let's just say the interaction between Swim Chick and Adventure Guy and then Swim Chick and myself was not pretty. The grownups need to learn to deal a bit better with frustration, or at least to deal with it a bit more quietly. Oh well, what's an Ash Wednesday without a good source of guilt?

In the end, tears were dried, homework was complete, and kids were put to bed. Now I've got to get packed and try to take care of Adventure Guy whose earlier crankiness I've now discovered is likely related to the 102 degrees of fever he's running. And, yes, I'm leaving him until Monday to take care of the myriad details of the weekend kids' activities. GUILT, GUILT, GUILT!