When the goals keep moving, what do deadlines even mean

The other reason I took a blog pause in January was due to an unexpected challenge. If you recall, I’m a sucker for a good competition especially if it offers a prize. This came in the form of a reading challenge through the local library, consisting of FOUR prizes plus an entry into a drawing to win a kindle.

First you need to know what an AR goal is. The kids have this reading program at school, AR. I don’t really understand it, but it involves numbers, a weighted scale per book, reading comprehension tests, and reading a certain amount of minutes each quarter. So we hear and talk a lot about “AR goals” around our house. Confusingly, anytime my kid hits an AR goal they report the teacher then moved the goal. It seems to be a sliding scale and I’m led to believe it stands for Accelerated Reader. Now you know exactly as much as I do about this topic.

The public library kicked off a 2025 adult reading challenge – read 12 books before December 31, 2025. You are given a bookmark with 12 lines and told to fill in the titles as you finished them. You can show your bookmark at periodic intervals to get milestone prizes and turn it in at the end for the drawing entry.

I tend to take these things a little too seriously. I decided, why December? Why not January? Thus began the quest. The whole family was involved in “Mom’s AR goal.” After dinner I would retreat to my room and overhear the kids bickering which always ends in, “I’m going to tell Mom!”

“No,” the oldest would whisper, “you can’t interrupt her, she’s working on her AR goal.”

*reverent silence*

Every day I had to provide the kids with a status update, how many books I had read, and what percent of the way through my current book I was.

I obviously nailed it and finished the 12th book on January 31st.

Thanks to the whole flu thing I couldn’t get into the library until the 4th of February to turn in my bookmark. I arrived with my three little goslings all honking, “she did it! She met her goal! What’d she win?”

“More importantly, am I the first to finish? I need to know,” I croaked.

They told me I was first, I don’t actually know if that’s true as we were all very sick and it’s possible they just wanted to give me the things and get me out of there. I was also given a new, blank bookmark and told I could fill it up again and receive another entry into the final prize.

I kind of feel like they moved my AR goal….

Naturally, we plunked down at a table to survey the spoils. A few other people trickled in and turned in their completed bookmarks, which elicited a gasp from my eldest, “mom! You were so close to losing to them. You better start reading again. Don’t let them win.”

“I already won?”

“Yeah…but….win again Mom. Win again.”

Not pictured is a green maze pen which is my favorite. Productivity at my desk has come to a screaming halt until I conquer that thing. Don’t tell my boss. Actually, he already knows. He asked me to schedule some time with him during January and I responded, “I’m just really busy this month, I’m up against a tight deadline.” He gets it.

This is a test to see if he reads the blog.

Tune in next week to check my employment status!

….kidding.