So many kids, I don't know what to do.



Friday, June 3, 2011

Can You Hear Me Now?

As you all who are following my life with anticipation of my next move will recall, I fired my triathlon coach.
Then the next day I rehired him.

Since then he has acted a tad like he may be scared of me.  Than again maybe he is just squirrely.
I just wanted to use the word, "squirrely".  Now I have.  I can move on.

He called me today.  He asked me how my workout plan was going and asked if I was doing ok and if I was happy.
I told him I was fine and that the only concern I have is that I have been exhausted lately. 

He was concerned about my exhaustion and asked if it was the workouts specifically or just life in general.  I told him it was life in general and that I wasn't getting any sleep.

Interruption -
For some reason  have been waking up about 2:34 am every morning for about the last three weeks.  I then cannot go back to sleep until about 4:00am.  My alarm clock goes off at 4:30. 
I have been falling asleep while driving which is what I always do when sleep deprived.
Back to story.

He suggested that I take a break and have a slow week the week after my next race.  I agreed that as much I didn't want to do that it would probably be for the best and maybe between a workout break and the first week of summer I could get some rest.

He said, "Your son will be out of school.  Is that your only kid?"

Interruption -
Remember I took Ty with me to the team fartleks the other day?
I used to take Saigie to the team track workout, but I decided it was traumatic for her to see me near death wheezing and cussing.
Remember one of my problems with this coach was that he didn't seem to remember me from one week to the next since I hired him in February?
Now he has SEEN and spoken to two of my kids.  I don't expect him to remember them, so that is fine.  A lot of his clients probably have kids.
Back to story.

I explained to him both when I hired him and when I rehired him that I cannot rely on group workouts because of my schedule with my FIVE kids.  I explained to him that if the crux of his plan was group workouts this team was not for me.

Back to the phone conversation, I told him (again) that I have FIVE kids.  I told him Ty was my oldest and that they ranged in age from 15 to almost 2.

He said, "HOLY SHIT!  I am impressed you manage to do any workouts.  I would be tired too.  You have five kids?" (I am sorry Mom, but that is what he said.  And I am nothing if not completely accurate on this blog.)

I wasn't mad about it.  I am not exactly annoyed by it, more like humorously confused.  I started ruminating over some of our past conversations.  I just wanted to use the word ruminating.

Once I faked embarrassment while we were taking our shoes off that mine socks didn't match.  We were commiserating on the hardship of finding two matching socks and I said, "Seven people's worth of socks are impossible to keep on top of."  What did he think I was talking about?  Was he listening?

Another time he was admonishing me for not running faster, yadda yadda yadda, at a track workout and I responded, "I just come here to get away from my kids!"  Well it was more like, "I GRUNT just come GASP WHEEZE here to get GASP away from WHEEZE my kids."  What did he think I was talking about?  Was he even listening?  He laughed so I assume he heard me.

The workout feedback he requires we complete after workouts often includes things like, "I would have liked to swim the other 500 meters, but I had to pick up a kid up from school, take one to art, and take one to the doctor to get a Polly Pocket shoe extracted from her nose."  Does he even read the logs he insists I keep?  (Does he not read my blog?)

Sigh.

I am not going to fire him again.  He is knowledgeable and I have shown improvement.  The Coach is disappointed by this decision.  He was still hoping to have a reason to beat him up.
I am not even really trying to complain about the fact that he does not remember me or more specifically my situation.
I just am wondering, "Does he ever listen?"
If not he is missing out on my number one excuse for any failure in my life including, but not limited to, a messy house, late grading, forgetting friend's birthdays and running slowly.

Are there people in your life like this?  Do you do this?  Do I?  (I guess you wouldn't know.  Unless I have done it to you that is.) 


14 comments:

  1. I love that you used the words squirrely and ruminating in the same post. Next time can you fit in fixin' and yee haw? :) I felt like I was home and it made me smile.

    My coach used to have the same issue when we first started. Of course, now I am in her face so much she can't forget me. Though, she will sometimes forget the races I have signed up for. That "chafes my hide" but I ruminate on it a minute and then move on. So I don't think I am fixin' to get rid of her! :)

    You are doing great and I can't believe you do so much with five kids. That is awesome!

    Keep on keepin' on!

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  2. I have a coworker like this. I see the guy every day for the last 3 and a half years.

    Him: How was your weekend?
    Me: Oh, it was OK... I had a BBQ with like 50 people.
    Him: I went out drinking.

    A while later...

    Him: So, I forgot to come to your BBQ this weekend. Did anyone show up?

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  3. My boss. I've known him literally my entire life. And he consitantly gets my daughter's name wrong...hell he still gets my name wrong sometimes. Nothing is as important to him as he is.

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  4. This is your coach? I'd be a mite miffed. I mean, if anything, the dude could work that to his self absorbed advantage. He could sell his services by saying, "I coach a woman with 5 kids who runs triathlons." I mean, clearly, that fact alone, is more of a testament to you than to him, but he could sell it like he was a part of your motivation. I see why your husband wants to beat him up.

    And I've been having the same problem for the last week. Every night at 2:30, I wake up and I cannot get back to sleep. All the minor little problems in my life seem huge in the middle of the night and I just watch the clock tick my sleep hours away.

    Sorry. I know how frustrating it is.

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  5. I'd fire him. No...first I'd let coach work him over, Then I'd fire him. My kids don't listen to me. That I get, I understand. Another grown-up? Not acceptable.
    Then again, if he could help me squeeze my ass into my favourite old pair of jeans....I'd probably just let him think I didn't have any kids at all!

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  6. It sounds like he selectively listens and tunes out everything else. My guess is he still won't remember a lot of what you've said. :(

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  7. Ha! NONE of us ever wear matching socks at our house either!! Waaaay to difficult! Hmmm the coach, well seems like he should pay more attention, BUT... you have improved, hard call. Good Luck with that :)

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  8. I suspect that mast of us know a few people like this! Some times I think I married one of them! Sigh!

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  9. Hhhmmm, sounds like he listens just like any other man I know.

    Good luck!

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  10. Fire him once, shame on him. Fire him twice, shame on you.

    I sympatize with your sleeping badly. My inner clock has gotten stuck too: it wakes me up around two o'clock, and won't let me fall asleep again, until about five 'o clock. It's worse than a baby that's teething.

    And just as tiring.

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  11. Oh man that coach would drive me nuts! I would be like HELLO do I need to give you a tape recorder so you can play it back before you call me??

    I hate it when my sleep gets all messed. You are right, cutting back a little may just be the ticket to a good nights rest.

    Hope you have a great weekend
    Sarah

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  12. Squirelly!!!

    Methinks he has a hearing problem (rimshot :)

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  13. Oh my gosh your alarm goes off at 4:30 am! You are my hero! I keep dreaming about getting to the 5:30 spin class as my gym, but am actually afraid of how tired I would be.

    I know a lot of people that forget about my kids, or others and I am equally baffled about how this HUGE element of someone's life could just be forgotten if you are a frequent part of their life. I feel like your five make you particularly notable, especially with all your training, no one should be forgetting yours.

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  14. People like that would be most men I know. Fire him.

    Who cares about matching socks?

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I always like to know someone is listening!