School mornings sometimes make me want to just throw my hands up in the air and head to my closet with a huge cake (not piece...the whole darn cake) and a fork. I feel like after the cake was gone, I could walk out, head held high (with crumbs and icing all over my face), and take on the disaster that is sometimes our morning. Don't worry Gramma and Grampa! I'm sure they'll be perfect little angels for you on school mornings in a few weeks when Heath and I are out of town. Don't be scared.
They have been much better this school year so far than last. I can let them sleep for an extra 20 minutes this year because the fight doesn't last nearly as long. Well, until this morning. I'm officially nervous about how the rest of the year might go. Hopefully this morning was a fluke.
They both assured me at bedtime last night that they were ready for school and were going to hop right out of bed in the morning. HA! LIARS!
Camden is normally my morning person. If she isn't up by the time I head in to wake them up, she'll quickly sit up, smile at me and get on with the morning tasks. Hannah, on the other hand, is most decidedly NOT a morning person. I always know it's going to be touch and go with that one. This morning, I had two Hannahs on my hands.
I managed to get them both in an upright position and dressed. Camden had her eyes shut the whole time. Hannah refused to even lift an arm to help me out and kept toppling backwards onto her bed with some "I'm done with this bull crap" sighs and grunts. Me too, Hannah, me too.
Breathe, Mom, breathe! This will all be over in about 40 minutes.
I ushered them both, still blinking like newborns who aren't quite sure what to do with all of the light, to the bathroom. We got their hair fixed and their morning bathroom needs taken care of without too much issue.
Right about now, Logan starts yelling from his crib and kicking the wall with both feet to let me know he's awake. Awesome. Let me just get the girls' breakfast started first, little man, then it's your turn.
Out to the kitchen we go. Hannah (usually) is fully awake by now and makes a quick breakfast decision. Camden, on the other hand, chooses this moment to get indecisive, uncooperative, and to start whining that we don't have what she wants for breakfast. I'm starting to get impatient and more than a little irritated because of the very unhappy noises coming out of the baby boy room, and I just want her to make a decision so I can go get the baby situation taken care of. We all know what you are going to pick, Camden, so just pick it! That's what my head is screaming. My outer mother is very calmly giving her options, even though I could already have what I know she is going to pick ready and on the table. Give her time, Mom, she's still very little (I have to constantly talk myself off of freak out ledges in the morning). Almost every morning Hannah wants a bagel with butter and Camden wants a bagel with cream cheese. Hannah's breakfast is taken care of when Camden finally decides on her (surprise) cream cheese bagel. Done!
As soon as they are at the table eating, it's off to get little man. I catch him mid-scream. The minute he hears the door creak open, he stops, giggles, jumps on his mattress a few times, and raises his arms so I can get him out of the crib. The easy part is over, though, because now it's time to change that diaper and dress him. Changing his morning diaper should be an Olympic event. He laughs through me getting his sleeper off, but the minute that diaper comes off, he goes stiff as a board and starts crying like I have him chained to the wall and am beating him with a 2 by 4 full of rusty old nails. I thought the girls were the dramatic ones! Once the clean diaper is on, he spends his getting dressed time throwing every article of clothing he possibly can onto the floor. He thinks he's hilarious!
Mid-diaper change, it never fails that Camden will come in fussing that she changed her mind and doesn't want her cream cheese bagel afterall. Can she have chex mix? Goldfish? Cookies? Spaghetti for breakfast instead? Yes, Camden you can have all of those things. When you are an adult living on your own and I'm not there to force you to eat something a little more breakfast worthy. NO! Get back to the table and eat your bagel. That was your choice, now you need to eat it or go to school hungry. I'm elbows deep in changing a diaper and I. CANNOT. HELP. YOU. for at least another 5 minutes. Just go eat!!!! Please!!!
By the time teeth are brushed, shoes and coats are on, and we are packed up ready to go, I'm thankful that I'm giving them to someone else for the day. That morning 40 minutes is the longest 40 minutes of my day.
Want to know how I know I'm insane? I start missing those little stink pots the minute I pull out of the school parking lot. I have cried pulling away from the school more times this year than ever before because the minute I get in the car, do a little happy to be free dance, and breathe a sigh of relief, I start missing them with an ache that goes all the way to my toes. Yes, I still get Logan all day, but he misses them, too! He wanders the house looking for them, which makes me miss them even more.
They are growing up way too fast on me. Pretty soon, they won't need me there to drag them out of bed (well, OK, maybe that part will always be my job), but they won't need me to dress them, do their hair, get them breakfast, and try to love them through a morning they aren't quite ready to be awake for yet. They'll want to take the bus to school because having your Mom drop you off and pick you up isn't quite as cool as it should be. Pretty soon, they won't need me in quite the way they need me now. So, I'm going to do my best to enjoy these mornings and to hug them through the "tough" times that every morning brings. They are happy enough by the time we head out the door. I like to think that I'm part of what turns their morning around. My fingers are crossed that they will always need me to help get their mornings on track, but deep down I know that eventually they will be able to do that on their own.
