I wonder, if someone filmed me throughout my day, would it look like other mothers’ days? I wish I could SHOW you what it’s like. I know we aren’t totally normal, but are we that different?
This morning, I managed to get everyone to the van with enough time to squeeze them to school mostly on time. I sent them all out to the van, came out, and of course no one was actually in the van. That would be too simple. They were all wandering around outside. Before I could say anything about why the eff they weren’t buckled in and ready to roll, Tuna announced that Binker had to poop. Me: “Then why aren’t you inside pooping??!!”
So he slowwwwly walks to the door, and I tell him to “HURRRRYYYY UUUUP!!!” Seriously, how does it take three minutes to walk inside and sit on the toilet?
So the rest of us are waiting in the driveway….waiting….waiting….I check on him a couple of times…………..He is the world’s slowest pooper. He took at least 87 minutes just wiping. And we’re officially late. We pull out of the driveway at 8:20–exactly when we should be arriving at school. I should start recording the number of times we’ve been late because of poop.
Before all of that, my house wasn’t the vision of three angel children getting dressed, eating breakfast, brushing teeth, putting on shoes, and going to the van. That’s ALL THEY HAVE TO DO. Those simple steps. That’s IT. I have seven million things to do. They have FIVE things to do. Why in God’s great Universe do they not understand, after years of school mornings, this simplicity?! I have charts, timers for when it’s time to get shoes on, timers for when it’s time to go out the door, I even remind them every step of the way while I’m doing my stuff (making lunches, sucking down coffee, putting out fires…). They can’t find the right socks, they are fighting with each other, they are playing with Legos still with bare feet…and this morning Binker was constantly whining about how he didn’t feel well enough to go to school–over and over and over he whined at me while I was trying to think! Whined at me while I sprayed him with Mucinex and shoved Tylenol down him–You’re going. to. school. damnit! (He was totally fine.) It’s SO hard to just THINK when three little boys need a million things–things that they don’t even need–right NOW.
The hardest part is keeping my cool. I have challenged myself to keep it cool for four days in a row. So far this week (it’s Tuesday) I’ve reset my challenge twice. So much for that. How about three?
Then Squishy and I have our day doing this and that (Today. Other days are crazier), going here and there, accomplishing things, playing…and then it’s time for pick-up. Armor on. Enter whiny tired Squishy after the day and the playground, talky talky talky Binker, grumpy hangry Tuna…all talking and whining and fighting with each other over the stupidest shit in the Universe, all at the same time. It’s great fun. Not headache-inducing at all. We get home and Squishy has a three hour long meltdown about Angry Birds, Binker gets emotional about his old bed that we sold, and Tuna is about to pass out because he couldn’t sleep last night. I really don’t know how I managed to feed and bathe them (help from Latefordinner). Falling asleep didn’t take long, thank all of the Gods of this great Universe for that.
So, with three angels slumbering, I sat down at my computer to do my homework, and realized that this blegh post was in order. Seriously. Because there has to be another parent out there who deals with the intensity, who deals with the morning rush, who is late because of poop. It’s a major challenge for me–to keep my cool when poop makes us late. To keep my cool when Binker is on the top bunk with Legos when he should be putting shoes on. To keep my cool when the cat gets on the table and eats Squishy’s cereal. To keep my cool when Tuna wants to discuss the meaning of life before coffee–every single day.
Your lessons will continue to present themselves until you learn them. These effed up days are not about my kids learning how to get ready on time (well, they sort of are, but not completely). These days are about ME learning how to find that center of the cyclone while lateness and distractions and poop are happening around me daily before coffee. I have three days left this week to rise to my own challenge of keeping my cool. I really hope I don’t have to reset again tomorrow. This is a tough one, because I think that these smart boys should just get it.
I have memories of sitting on the heater vent in the winter mornings, my mom throwing my clothes at me, telling me very nicely to get dressed. Man, I don’t remember her yelling at me like I do at my boys. I remember watching the last remaining cheerios in my bowl move toward each other, making shapes out of three or four circles together. I would make a ripple in the milk, and they’d re-form into new shapes–faces, animals, boats… It was like cloud-watching in a bowl. I wasn’t thinking about the clock. I had no concept of time or school bells. I was cold first, then having a warmer zen moment with my cheerios. I am constantly disrupting my kids’ zen moments with these stupid deadlines. I tell them “I didn’t invent the clock. We all just have to follow it if we want to succeed in this world.” How does a little dreamer child even come to understand that? The kids need to learn, yes, and the adults need to REMEMBER. We are all born dreamers, the clock is man-made. Maybe I’ll meet them in the middle–they will learn the clock, and I will re-learn zen cheerios. I should at least try, and probably harder than they do.
Maybe each household’s morning looks different, but these kids are probably pretty similar. If you struggle with your routine, I hope you can try with me, to not be quite so normal. I hope that some of us can remember that what some consider “different”, is actually closer to where we began–little cloud-watchers outside of time.
Man, I hope I remember that tomorrow morning when I have to get them out the door again. We can look at clouds on the way.
Because Boys 