Combat Zone

Some mornings are smooth and others are not. Today started out well enough. Sophia climbed in bed with me at 6:30 and we snuggled for a half hour before we got started with our day. We laughed and talked. Kees was in bed with us too, he had been there for a while. Sneaky little dude. Sophia is really excited because today she gets to show her class an invention. She and her daddy put together a couple of lights (red and green) that will indicate whether her brothers are allowed to come in her room. The switches will be inside her room and the lights outside.

At 7 I got out of bed to wake Coulter and then I went to take a shower. Still all good. While I was in the shower Coulter came in with his clothes so he could get dressed in front of the heater in my bathroom. Great. Sohpia got dressed too. I got out, got dressed myself and then with a bit of a battle, got Kees dressed. This is going well.....

I start down toward the kitchen at 7:45 to make breakfast and lunches. It's a few minutes later then usual and we have to leave at 8:05. I announce, "You're all having cereal today. What kind do you want?" Coulter says, "I want eggs." Me, "Nope. You are having cereal." Coulter starts screaming at me. Not cool dude! I take a quick inventory and there are only 2 kinds of cereal, Cherios and Chex and there is no milk upstairs. Kees says he wants hot cereal. Actually we do have hot cereal. OK. The hot cereal only takes a minute in the microwave so I pop it in. I start down the stairs. Coulter is following me screaming, "I WANT EGGS." Seriously dude, you are in danger of being in big trouble. When I reach the bottom of the stairs I can hardly move because once again, the kids have taken all of the blankets in the basement, all the pillows, the gymnastics mats and all of the stuffed animals, oh, and a bag of garbage just for fun, and stacked them all at the base of the stairs. I can't get past it. I climb over it all. I get milk, eggs (not for today but we're out upstairs), Smuckers PB and J's (for lunches), cheese sticks (lunches) and drinks for lunches.

As I am going back up Coulter is still yelling, "I WANT EGGS!" I yell back, "It's not going to HAPPEN! YOU ARE HAVING CEREAL!" He'll take hot cereal. I have anticipated this and made enough for Kees and Coulter. As I am divying up the cereal I am yelling about the junk at the bottom of the stairs. "You guys need to pick up after yourselves. It is really frustrating for me when I have to go downstairs and walk into a giant mess. The basement was clean yesterday and now it's a giant mess. I can get rid of all your stuff and it would certainly be easier for me. What do you think of that?" Sophia says, "We're just kids." I say, "I don't care. You need to help. There are 5 of us in this house and I am the one picking up stuff most of the time. Daddy does when he is home but he's been pretty busy lately." Sophia, "I forgot." And I yell, "Stop forgetting!" Seriously, I forgot? Am I suppose to take that as an excuse?

The boys have their breakfast and I ask Sophia what she wants. She says she'll take Life. I don't have any but there is some downstairs. I go back down. I pick up some of the crap at the bottom of the stairs and shove it on the day bed. I then throw the pillows across the room to the approximate location that they belong in. I grab the Life and head back up the stairs.

When I get up stairs Sophia is gone. I yell, "SOPHIA!!! WHERE ARE YOU?" She yells from upstairs, "I am up here." I yell, "GET DOWN HERE NOW!" She comes stomping down. I say, "What were you doing?" She says, "You scared me." I ask, "Have I ever hit you or hurt you?" She says, "No. But I thought you were mad about having to go get the Life and I thought that other stuff was life." She points to the Chex. I tell her I was not mad about going to get the cereal. That I am frustrated about the mess and the fact that they never clean them up. I also don't like everyone yelling at me when I am trying to get them all fed and make lunches. I pour her cereal and they all eat. I make lunches feeling like a total jerk the whole time. I know I shouldn't yell but it just makes me crazy and "We forgot" is such a lame excuse and I know it's BS! "We didn't want to clean it up." That's real. That's the truth.

So now I need to get my child raising bible back out. Taking Charge by JoAnne Nordling is my go to book when I need help. Check it out sometime.

Right before we all walk out the door I collect my kids together. We all group hug. I tell them that being a mom is hard and that I am sorry that I yelled so much. I also tell them that they need to help me. That when they leave all their things at the bottom of the stairs if I am not paying attention I could get really hurt. If I fall down and break my leg who is going to make breakfast and lunches? They look at me like, "Yeah, who?" They say they are sorry too. We all hug and say we'll all try to do better.

So that was my morning. Even though the yelling was 20 minutes of it it takes up 90% of what my mind remembers as this morning. By the time they all went to school we were hugging and kissing good bye. Being a mom is hard. They ARE little or "just kids" as Sophia says. But I know they can clean up. They do it at school all the time. Even Kees and he's 3 so I know it can be done. Taking Charge here I come.

May tomorrow morning be a better morning.