Yesterday was one of those 3 kids, 3 activities, same time, 2 parents kind of days.

We had it all planned out: Busy Dad was going to take Busy Boy to Cotillion and then go up the Interstate and catch Busy Girl's basketball game (she was already there) and bring her home to study for exams despite her insistence that she has no need to study.

On Friday, Busy Dad had arranged a ride home from Cotillion for Busy Boy since I was going to be at basketball practice with Busy D.

However, the dad of the ride home said, "Call on Saturday to double check the plans with my wife since she'll be the one going".

We left them a message on Saturday morning, but, they weren't home.

I figured they'd call eventually, it wasn't a big deal.

Since no one in this house except me was born with a "hurry up" mode, it was past time for everyone to leave, yet, to no one's real surprise, we were still here.

I had been cleaning out my closet (hey, it was really bad in there. I found a fourth kid in there that we didn't know we had. He's in high school. Good thing he doesn't eat much, and, is kinda quiet), and, I had just thrown on a coat and was ready to walk out the door to Busy D.'s practice when the phone rang:

Other mom: "Hey, I got your message. You know you have to go to Cotillion, don't you?"

Me: "Um, no."

Other mom: "Didn't you get that flyer in the mail? Today's the dance, and, it's a mother-son, father-daughter thing."

Me: "I got the flyer, but, I sure don't remember reading that."

Other mother: 'Yeah, you have to dress up for the dance and go, too."

Since the site is about 45 minutes away, and, it was already about 30 minutes before class time, I hung up the phone, and, raced upstairs.

It was like a cartoon. I was shedding clothing in the hall, on the steps, and, all the way to my room.

I threw on a formal-ish dress, painted my toes (and some of my nails) in about 45 seconds, slapped on some makeup, brushed my hair, grabbed some shoes, ran out to the car barefoot in the 40 degree rain, and, we sped off.

We actually got there with time to spare.

I came flying in the door, and, right away, I noticed the distinct lack of other parents in formal attire at high noon on a Saturday.

Actually, there was a distinct lack of any parents there at all except for the chaperones who are assigned to each class.

I went to tell Busy Boy I was going to leave, when I ran into "other mother" who said, "Oops, I guess they've changed it since my older child was here, sorry!"

As we were talking, the head Cotillion lady sees me (other mother had walked away), and, asks if I'm one of the chaperones.

Not wanting to explain that I had mistakenly arrived in formal attire to an event I wasn't even supposed to be attending, I told her that I had just come to watch (parents are invited to watch), and, I asked if she needed any help, figuring I'd help set up some stuff and then slip away.

At this point it dawned on me that I was wearing a sleeveless dress, and since the girls are supposed to keep their shoulders covered, I decided to keep my coat on.

But, in my haste, I had put on a coat that didn't quite match the formality of my dress.

Now, this class is in a rather "lah-dee-dah" part of town, and, the other chaperones, all married couples, realized I was an outsider (this class is mostly kids from the same school, with a few from other schools, like Busy Boy, mixed in), and they were kind of surreptitiously looking me up and down, wondering why I was there alone, looking like a street urchin who'd broken into someone's costume closet.

The more I mentioned that "my husband" was with our "other children", the more disbelieving their looks became.

To top it off, there was never an opportunity to slip away without having to announce my exit to the entire room, so I just continued to pretend like I was supposed to be there, poured punch and cut cake, leaving Biff and Cornelia, and, Quad and Buffy (anyone in town remember them?) to wonder who I was and when I was going to go back with my own kind.