Lynn O’Rourke: ‘I realise that somehow it’s gone horribly wrong’

HAVING spent last weekend enjoying the weather, things on the domestic front were ignored, which is why, getting home from work on Monday, my aim is to catch up. My other half is out and I intend to storm through the task list.

But somehow it’s 9pm by the time the kids are in bed and I’ve eaten. I think about washing the kitchen floor, then remember I need to fill in the class photos form. I know I’ve put it somewhere, but where? I need a pen. I’ll look for one as I search for the form. I try in our frankly 
terrifying ‘filing’ drawer, but can’t open it because it is so rammed full of paperwork we’re supposed to have dealt with. I force it open and decide I better sort it out. I take the drawer out and dump it on the kitchen table. Halfway through I remember the photo form is on the side of the fridge - I put it there so I’d be able to find it easily. It’s beside the school homework instructions I couldn’t find last week.

I take the pen from the wall calendar, but it doesn’t work. I find another pen. I get a text. Then another. I lose a bit of time sorting out kids’ playdates. The dishes need washed as the dishwasher is on the blink. I also still have to iron a school dress. I finally find a pen and complete the form. It’s in the school bag. No late fee for me. I breathe out and survey the scene, particularly the awful Close Encounters-style paper mountain I’ve created, and realise that somehow it’s all gone horribly wrong.