The Icon That’s Changed My Life. Sorta.

I am one of those people still plagued by dreams that I have a missed a semester’s worth of classes and can’t graduate from college the day before commencement takes place. I find this recurring nightmare ridiculous, given that I don’t use my degree for my profession, and I graduated almost 15 years ago.

I’ll let you in on a secret, in case you don’t know yet: Kindergarten is WAY MORE STRESSFUL than pre-school. There are bells that ring and tardys and folders being sent home with things that need a signature and after school activities that require a different pick up time and play dates that mean I have to remember to leave a booster seat and money that needs to be given for lunch and fund-raisers that I’m expected to participate in and the blue folder with all the stuff they did in class being sent home at the end of the week that needs a place because HOW CAN I THROW AWAY ONE THING THAT MY KINDERGARTENER DID? and did I mention the things that require signatures and forms to be filled out and the folders and the signatures? And in all of my 35 years I have never managed to keep a day-timer past January? Oh, and I almost forgot that every day, I have to remember to send a water bottle and each Monday I have to have his rest blanket cleaned and ready to go and every day I have to make sure that there is a uniform clean and somewhat unwrinkled. For this Type B, this all makes me want to go rock in a corner.

Thankfully, in this wonderful age of technology, I can finally combat this monster that has been on my back since I bought my first Trapper Keeper and promptly let it get lost in the bottom of my book bag.

The iPhone has kind of changed my life, in a good way. I was a little old school, not really feeling the need to make the leap into the age of cell phones and being on the radar all the time, but I must say, the calendar feature has saved my bacon on many occasions. I make a playdate? Tap-tap-tap…there it is, in my calendar, with reminders and alarms set to remind me. I’m supposed to pick Noel up later one day a week? Tap-a-tee-tap…there it is, with the weekly entry and the weekly alarm and reminder.

Granted, this device has a few superfluous apps that I might not need (but might come in handy, such as writing this post from it), but the ability to make me feel sort of sane and not like a complete tool, with just a tiny square calendar icon is cool. It won’t change the fact that when I arrive somewhere on time and on the right day I will probably have my hair up in my crazy lady bun and may or may not be in the clothes that I slept in, but I will be there. And that’s good enough for me.