As a working mom of two boys, ages 2 and 7, my day has just begun at the crack of dawn. As my husband waves goodbye to me, I know my job as the "little general" in charge has just begun! As I scurry and get my coffee, I tiptoe down the hallway making sure not to make any sound or scuffle. I know one noise could throw off my whole morning routine of peace and tranquility.
As I pour my huge tank of coffee that I quietly thank my husband for
making, I sit down at my computer and sip my moment of silence before my
day begins. What makes this time so sweet is I know it won't last.
My little kittens are purring and stirring, and I know I must make a
mad dash to the shower in less then 10 minutes if I am going to make
it.
It's funny how we used to take things for granted like this "time"
that we used to have so much of when we were single. I check the clock
and father time is telling me it is time to get in the shower. I tiptoe back down the hallway and step on a half eaten cracker along the
way. It is stuck to my foot. I take it off my foot and roll my eyes,
then hop into the shower.
I know I have 3 minutes of this luxiourious
spa experience before it is over. As I step out of my spa, over some
plastic boats and on to a wet floor, I listen for the sounds of
purring. One is stirring, the other is still sound asleep.
I am now
like a tornado going through clothes in my closet trying to figure out
my Tuesday outfit. I try to recall if I have worn the pink sweater
just last week. I inspect for any spots or stains that might occured
from last week's chinese food spill in the car. "Looks pretty good, I
say to myself." I throw the denim skirt and sweater in the dryer, along
with a cute motherly snowflake turtle neck to go underneath. We are
doing a snowman unit, so I try to dress like the curriculum.
I hear stirring, purring, and wrestling. "Could they be up so soon?"
I rush to the dryer, open it up and throw the steaming hot clothes over
me like a cup of coffee. I grab a pair of my son's short socks and
stretch them over my feet, then throw my boots on.
I am almost
complete, as I go into the bathroom and attempt to put makeup on under
the lights of a fogged up mirror. I have this down so well, I could do
this in the dark. "God bless my hairdresser," I think to myself. "This
stacked bob is saving my life." Now, one of my darlings is up. He
has decided to turn on Sponge Bob to a volume of 34. "Mom," he says
sweetly, "I am all wet."
"O.K. honey," I say. "Let me go run the bath." I am starting to hear
familiar tunes of the circus ring in my head. I know my tranquil spa
experience has ended.
As my other little kitten is waking up. I greet him with a warm hug.
He greets me with a ferocious smelling diaper that is potent enough to
wake up the neighbors.
Now, we are all going in different directions. I am ready to serve my
husband divorce papers because he had placed the wipes in a far away
foreign corner of the house. I look at the clock and begin to
experience pre-menopausal symptoms of hot flashes and sweat running
down my forehead.
As I change my 2 year old, we are able to sing the ABC song and I get some giggles and kisses. I feel deeply content with
this, because I know he is OK this morning. As we all manage to get
dressed and out the door, my oldest son decides he wants to show off
some great scooter stunts on the driveway. "Not on your life," I say
in my best general tone.
"Get in the car, or we will be late." As I watch my precious get in
the car, I realize that he forgot to brush his teeth. I quickly grab
for a piece of peppermint Trident gum I have at the bottom of my purse
and hand it to him. I know he has his reading group today with his
teacher. He could easily blast everyone out of his group with out
quick dental intervention.
I breathe in a few times as we head down
the road and start to feel a calm kick in. "We made it boys." I say.
I praise them for a job well done. I know my day has just begun now.
1 hour later, I find myself at my new job as a kindergarten teacher.
Well, I would rather call this a roll over job from my previous early
morning one.
I am now merging into one new person, or mother, nurse,
and teacher all rolled in one. As I am standing at the gate, I begin
to greet moms and their precious one's just walking up with freshly
washed hair and packed lunches to the brim. I clutch my coffee like my
life depends on it, and put on my best smile.
I know now, my job had
just begun. Suddenly, I have a flashback of this morning. I wonder if
my 7 year old was able to gulp enough cereal down to hold him over
until lunch. I am positively sure most of these sweeties walking in
have had short stacks with syrup smiley faces, eggs and sausage with
freshley squeezed orange juice in cute little plastic cups.
As I snap
myself out of it, I feel a tug on my new white sweater one of my
students bought me for Christmas. My little penguin is shivering
because of the wind, and wants to burrow beneath me. It's the mom
thing to do, to take him under my wing and keep him warm. As we waddle
together over to the line, my fresh faced kinders are eager to start
the day.
My job now is to teach them how to read and write, and make
sure they are happy and excited about learning. They are so happy to
see them and I am so lucky to be their teacher. I remind myself of the
phrase, "It takes a village to raise a child." I feel so fortunate to
have such a great group of kids.
I wonder how I do it all, but don't you think we do what we have to
do? There are always challenges on a daily basis, but we manage to get
through if we can remember that these times will not last forever.
Someday I will miss the 3 minute showers and cracker crumbs on the
floor and wonder, "now what should I do?"
Someday, we will have that peace, but I wouldn't want to trade my cracker crumbs and crazy mornings for anything!
Oh my God! I was dying reading this... this sounds like so many mornings I've had where I just feel thrown together and like it was nothing short of a miracle I got all the bodies out the door.
As a working mom of two boys, ages 2 and 7, my day has just begun at the crack of dawn. As my husband waves goodbye to me, I know my job as the "little general" in charge has just begun! As I scurry and get my coffee, I tiptoe down the hallway making sure not to make any sound or scuffle. I know one noise could throw off my whole morning routine of peace and tranquility.
Very Cute!!
Oh my God! I was dying reading this... this sounds like so many mornings I've had where I just feel thrown together and like it was nothing short of a miracle I got all the bodies out the door. 
Thanks for the info I'll add it.
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