Amanda Lamb: Filling holes

If you're a mom, you are a familiar with the little holes of time that are hard to fill efficiently. You know what I'm talking about.

For example, you drop off at school at 8:20 a.m. and you're driving a field trip at 10 a.m., but you don't have enough time to go home and come back. Depending on where you are, and what time it is, it may not be realistic to do errands.

I started bringing my computer and going to a coffee shop when I find myself with one of these little holes to fill on a day off in between ferrying my children places and doing errands. It's frustrating when you have a lot to do, and because of timing or location you can't fit it in to one of these holes. It makes me feel very inefficient.

It literally took me five days to do my grocery shopping this past week. One night, I stopped on my way home from work, and no sooner had I pulled in to the parking lot when I realized that my daughter had an appointment and I didn't have time to shop.

I tried again a few days later and just as I was loading my daughter's birthday cake into my cart I got a work-related call and had to go back to my car to find a pad and pen to take notes. The next day, I had an hour to kill near my daughter's school, but I had to go somewhere afterwards, so I couldn't have groceries that need to be refrigerated in my car. I decided to do my non-perishable shopping and get cold food later.

At lunch, my daughter reminded me she needed a treat to share with her dance class. So, I swung by the store again on my way home to get ready for work, but of course didn't have time to do the cold grocery shopping.

I don't want to even think about how much time I've wasted trying to get my grocery shopping done in one trip. Unfortunately, I think the "filling holes" mentality is a product of our activity-driven lives where we feel useless and guilty if we're not doing something productive every single minute.

One of my friends said: "Why don't you just bring a book and read when you have time to kill?" Now, that's an idea I kind of like ...