The “Be Prepared” Paradox

There is a specific kind of magic in the words “school holidays.” For a mom, they sound like a long, cool drink of water after a marathon.

In my mind, the script is already written: I am sleeping in. The house is silent. I am cradling a warm cup of Jo in the soft morning light while my son is still peacefully snoozing away. There is no shivering in the dark, no racing the clock, and no “lateness-meter” ticking in the back of my brain. It’s the ultimate reset button.

But then, reality walks into the room, and the script gets a rewrite.

I am a person who functions on rules. I like schedules. I like keeping time. I write everything down, making little notes and tracking the day like a scout on a mission. Usually, this happens in the quiet gap after school drop-off, a moment of alignment before the world starts spinning.

But school holidays are my nightmare dressed as a daydream.

Without the school bell to anchor me, I lose track of time and responsibility. It’s a silent chaos brewing in the distance, like a storm rising over the horizon. By Monday, I had effectively disappeared off the planet. I was so busy tackling tasks around the house that by the time I sat down to work, the brain fog had moved in.

Then came the dreaded words: “I’m hungry.”

For the third time that day. I nearly lost it. Needless to say, the “work” part of my day remained a very pretty, untouched plan on a piece of paper.

Tuesday was the tipping point. For reasons unknown to science or technology, my alarm clock simply didn’t go off.

I woke up in a daze, convinced my meeting was at 10:00 AM. I was wrong. It was at 9:00 AM. I had officially overslept, missed the call, and completely ruined the Mayor’s well-planned day.

There’s a song in The Lion King where Scar sings to the hyenas, “Be prepared.” Sitting there in the aftermath of a missed morning, those words felt like a personal call to action. I realized that while I love the idea of a break, a break without a plan is just a recipe for a mess.

So, on Wednesday, I channeled my inner Scar. I checked my alarm three times. I woke up early, did the laundry and tidied up the house a little—even though I knew it was a lost cause. My son can destroy a room in two seconds flat with a calculated explosion of toys, books, coloring pencils, and Legos. I have stepped on more plastic bricks in the last four days than I care to admit.

But Wednesday worked. I planned the day, got the meeting times in place and correct this time round. I didn’t miss a single thing and it turned out to be one of the most productive days I’ve had since last Friday.

I sat in my office and realized that Tuesday was just a gentle, slightly loud reminder that we are only human. We run around, we get things done, we miss things, and then we spend the rest of the week catching up.

The world didn’t come to an end because I slept through a meeting. But I also realized that I should probably be more prepared and follow some of my own advice. Being a “unicorn” doesn’t mean you don’t need a map; it just means you look better while you’re following it.

I would much rather be waking up to the view of a beach and the waves crashing into the rocks. Or sitting outside in the Kruger National Park listening to the birds in the morning or the lions and hyenas at night.

But here I am, being the perfect chaos coordinator at home, fixing things that aren’t really broken and herding the digital lions of my daily life.

We are halfway through this short April break. Eleven days of pure bliss, or at least, eleven days of trying to find the balance between the holiday spirit and the “Be Prepared” discipline. Things change, alarms fail, and sometimes you just need to sleep through the first act to get the second one right.

I’ll check the alarm three times again, just to be sure.

Tomorrow is a busy day full of meetings, which I cannot miss. My son will be driving grandma crazy for day, and I can work in peace. Friday will be my “duvet day”. As for the rest of the weekend – it’s still unknown and unplanned.