And It's Not Even 9am!!

I have kids. I love my kids. I do not love weekday mornings preparing said kids for the day. I remember, long ago, when I could roll out of bed at 8am and still make it to work by 9. I did not appreciate those days enough. Just for the heck of it, here's how this morning went:

Alarm goes off at 5:10am. (I used to set it for 5 and then hit snooze for an additional ten minutes- that backfired because I always ended up accidentally turning it off.) I knock everything off my dresser attempting to blindly reach the alarm.

Get dressed for the gym while our puppy whines for me to take her on a walk instead. She starts barking as I try to quietly leave, tripping over a forgotten toy that’s directly in front of the door.

Have an awesome, exhausting time as my friend chooses a HIIT workout designed to leave us unable to walk. I should have a super model body by next week. We used the Bosu Ball- it's incredible.

Back home in time for the real chaos to start. Both little boys are awake and shrieking at the top of their lungs for me to come get them up. My oldest, Micah, bless his heart, rounds them up and entertains them while I run upstairs to get dressed.

Shower time lasts about five minutes because I can already hear Ezra trying to climb up the stairs after me. Baby gates are a great invention. I nearly always wear dresses to work because finding and  coordinating an entire outfit is just not going to happen. Also, I’m a pro at putting on decent makeup in three minutes, finding jewelry in the dark by touch (Chase works nights and is sleeping semi-soundly by this point), and usually wearing matching shoes.

The minute I come back down, Micah abandons us for the sanctuary of his quiet room. Breakfast is tricky. It’s always a fun game to figure out what Cayden will eat on any given day. Yesterday he ate chocolate chip Eggos, but today they’re yucky. Oatmeal is acceptable, but only apple cinnamon flavor. Giving him anything else will result in it being spit back into the bowl. Raspberries are usually a success, in spite of his face and shirt being covered in juice. They’re bite size- how do you get them everywhere?? As for Ezra, he likes to sit in his high chair and cryptically point to what he wants. Giving him the wrong item will result in its being tossed to Dara the puppy. She will constantly be underfoot, waiting for something to drop or possibly trying to trip me so she can just rob whatever I’ve got.

Full disclosure- this is not a picture from this morning. I don't feed my child frosting-covered cookies for breakfast...very often

Once breakfast is taken care of, I begin making lunches for myself, Micah, and Cayden. This is where my love for consistency comes in. I always make a salad for myself- always. The ingredients may vary, depending on what’s in the fridge, so everything from peppers and spinach to canned peas and broccoli is fair game. I love when Chase is up and makes it for me- he takes the time to nicely cut the tomatoes and meat into tidy bites. Mine looks like I hacked it with a weed-eater.

The boys always want pbj sandwiches, even though Cayden only eats the jelly. My hope is that some of the peanut butter protein sticks to the jelly, maybe? Micah gets his sandwich, baked chips, fruit or yogurt, and a small pack of fruit snacks, along with a bottle of water. The kid is working so hard on exercising and being healthy- that’ll be a whole other post, but I’m really proud of him.

By this time we’re about fifteen minutes from needing to walk out the door. I forgot their vitamins- and after everyone got sick except me, I make Sure they take them. Having them in gummy Superhero Avengers form doesn’t hurt.

Then starts the process of getting Cayden dressed. Every day I ask him if he’s used the potty yet. “Of course, mommy! I used the potty yesterday at school.” Not a helpful response. After I get him out of the bathroom, he spends the next few minutes running around naked, laughing as Dara chases and nips at him. This makes Ezra jealous so he runs around, too, and they end up all crashing into each other which results in tears.

Cayden is really into dinosaurs right now and he has two dinosaur shirts. He insists on wearing one of them under his school uniform shirt so I have to do his laundry on a daily basis to keep up. You may ask why, as the parent, do I not just put my foot down and tell him no? Well, I’ve learned to pick my battles and if the kid is asking to wear his ‘favorite Giganotosaurus shirt in the entire world’, I’m going to let him and save my fight for the important things- like not eating the delicious looking lollipop someone left on the ground.

Next on the list is putting Ezra down for a nap so Chase can get his full five hours of sleep before he has to start the day. (We have crazy schedules) Ez doesn’t mind going back to his crib- provided he can bring an armful of toys with him. So I head back up the stairs with his beloved blankie, a ball, two books, a couple trucks, oh and somewhere in there is the little guy himself. Shutting the door, I tell Micah good-bye. But looking into his room, I see an unmade bed, three dirty glasses, his clean clothes thrown in a heap on the floor, and go into lecture mode.

Finally out the door, I head to Cayden’s school. We have the morning argument about turning on his favorite Pandora station. His school is literally two minutes from our house and by the time I get it synced to my Bluetooth, we’re already parking. Then, he informs me he’s too big for me to hold his hand while crossing the parking lot- he can hold his own hand, see? (holds up his two interlocked hands, which will obviously keep him safe from cars) Sigh.
 

Ever read that book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie? One thing leads to another and another. That’s how I feel my mornings go. Actually being at work seems like less work. Fortunately, for all the stress, they give me much more joy, and that makes it worth it. Until tomorrow morning when it starts all over…