Friday was a mess (in a good way). It began with the disaster that was Thursday afternoon. I found myself at the sheriff’s office multiple times trying to get my background check renewed so that I could attend my daughter’s field trip. Each time I made the trek up there they told me that the system was still down. Apparently it was a statewide outage so there was no where else for me to go. Should I have completed this task before the last minute? Sure. But here I was, out of time and out of luck.

In previous years I was on top of these types of things. I attended field days and exhibitions and most of the activities. Now, fitting in theater performances and apparently field trips seems to require an act of God. Sloane had been looking forward to this trip to Southern Belle Farm for a little while, and she was excited about me joining as a parent chaperone. Never mind that Samantha chaperoned her last (few?) trips. Daddy was supposed to come to this one too. So you can understand how difficult it was when I told her that I wasn’t going to be able to make it. Surprisingly, she took it well (so much for her disappointment!).

I was the one who couldn’t get it out of my head. I emailed the school reminding them that I’d already passed the previous few background checks. Besides, I had one on file for another school board that I sit on (can that count?). No response. It really didn’t matter, I didn’t really seem to have the time anyway. And yet… something about these past few weeks, something about this transition phase we’re in with the constraints of the campaign and all our end of school year activities… I wanted to make time. I’ve always believed that time works for us, not the other way around. It’s just a matter of deciding what will and will not get done.

Friday morning I woke up and decided that in fact, I was going to go on that field trip. Not as a chaperone, but as a parent who would drive the hour each way down and up I-75 to surprise my daughter. Sometimes, when you make a decision the universe conspires to test your commitment to that decision. My goal was to wrap up work early and arrive at 11am. At 11am I was still in my office, unprepared to leave. Still, I got on the road within the half hour and told myself, as long as I could arrive by 12:30, I’d still have plenty of time. I made it with enough time to spend about an hour sliding down slides, enjoying the corn pit, and chasing her around the playground. Time well spent? I was able to fulfill a commitment I’d made to my daughter, so I’ll say yeah.

Interestingly enough, when I walked up behind her at lunch she had just told her teacher that her daddy was coming. I clearly told her that I wasn’t going to be able to make it that morning. I even told Samantha to keep it a secret when I changed my mind and my schedule to make it happen. I didn’t want to get her hopes up twice. But somehow she knew.

Time is our most precious commodity.

I can always make more money. 

I can even make different decisions. 

But I can’t get back the time I’ve spent. 

So it’s up to me to spend it wisely.