Friday, February 4, 2011

7 am dilemma

Parenthood is full of choices.

Like right now. I am 100% sure that I need to shower this morning in order to maintain my status as a healthy, semi-functional member of society. No getting around that one.

But I am also 100% positive that the minute I get in the shower, Bianca will go into her sister's bedroom, wake her up, and steal her coveted pacifier. And I will step out of the shower to the sounds of all hell breaking loose in my household.

Of course, I could choose to skip the shower and maintain peace and quiet on the home front. But then I would have to avoid mirrors (and people) for the rest of the day.

I didn't really expect to use my business school education in my role as a stay-at-home parent. But I find myself doing cost-benefit scenarios all the time. As in "the benefit of going to the store at 6 pm versus the cost of a giant supermarket meltdown," and "the benefit of allowing Bianca to wear her princess dress to the park versus the cost of having it shredded on the monkey bars."

Honestly, I doubt a CEO handles as many decisions in a day as I do. The sheer volume of choices flying at me every day is staggering. OK, a CEO's decisions might involve more people and more money than my choices between broccoli and chicken nuggets, but they undoubtedly involve less screaming.

I am going with shower/potential Armageddon. Pray for me.