My Morning Mayhem

Fall is here. I love fall. The leaves, football, Thanksgiving, sweaters that cover my unsightly pendulous belly, and the fact that Baby Sam is getting older and can sleep longer. In fact, I really cannot believe how fast time is flying. Our life seems very busy and it goes by in a blur.

My mornings are usually full of chaos – getting two kids, plus me ready to go for the day. I think it is going to take quite some getting used to. A sample morning involves Sam and Abe waking up at 5:45 a.m. (yay for the time change!), Abe wants to watch a show, and Sam wants to suck down a bottle like it’s no one’s business. By the time I get them downstairs and I get showered (lately with the help of Daddy, although he has to leave at 6:30), we get Abe fed. But then the craziness ensues where I have to tell Abe to stop jumping off the arm of the couch and across the room and he says, “You’re mean, Mama,” while Sam is simultaneously rolling around the floor and screaming because he cannot reach “Tiny Woody’s” hat, that if he does reach, he will probably put in his mouth and choke, while Ozzie is trying to sneak Abe’s peanut butter waffle without me seeing.

Then, there is actually getting the children into the car. This means I have to put shoes on Abe, which doesn’t sound like a big deal, but by this time in the morning he has taken off his socks and placed them somewhere in the house. Lately, he has gotten good at remembering where he put them, because he knows I will ask for them. Then I have to load them in. This morning, I was a little lazy and left the door to the garage open, and guess who jumps in? Ozzie, that’s who. I played a five minute game of chase the dog around the car, as he jumped from seat to seat. Abe is laughing hysterically at this, and is more worried that Ozzie is going to eat his fruit snacks. For a fleeting moment I thought about giving up and letting Ozzie come with us, but then I was brought back down to reality when I thought about him peeing all over the new car that he would be locked in for 8 hours. Baby Sam is pissed that he is strapped into a carseat and tries to muscle himself out of its confines.

Finally, I get Ozzie out of the car, everyone buckled in and we are off. Almost every single morning I break a sweat. I am sure my story is no different than most mothers that have to take their kids to school, daycare, or wherever. But, it is just funny to me that five years ago I would NEVER have imagined that my mornings would be so crazy. I think about people that have peaceful morning routines – you know, wake up before the sun after a full night’s sleep, perhaps do a little yoga, sip a cup of piping hot java as the sun is rising, maybe catching the morning news or the morning paper. I want to punch those people in the face. There are times that I get to work and have a slight panic attack because I may have forgotten to put my makeup on (you don’t want to see that), or there is baby puke on my sweater.

But, this is my life now. And, maybe I can look at it another way and think of how lucky I am that I can spend these moments with my children. Or, I can say, “Wow! I am kick ass! I have fed two kids, dressed two kids, and wiped two butts all before 7 a.m.!” Regardless, I have learned that being a Mama is the hardest, thankless job in the world. I am totally wondering when my performance evaluation is going to be, so I can get that raise that I was hoping for. But, I guess I get paid in tiny victories – like when Abe says, “Hey Mama- I love you,” for no reason, or when Sam says “Mamamamamama” (he totally did, by the way.) And, like Jake and I keep telling each other – we need to live in the NOW! This will be over too fast. I just need to keep reminding myself of that.