A Day In The Life

8:00 The kids are awake. Mom is not. Mom stayed up way too late last night reading a Ted Dekker book. The dog is howling to go out. Might as well start the coffee.

8:30 Mom is making breakfast for everyone (toaster waffles...it's pretty gourmet) including Dad, who is still upstairs asleep. Score one for Dad.

8:45 Mom has managed to eat her waffle while it's still hot, and is cramming in the last bite when the baby wakes up ready to eat. Score one for Mom.

9:15 Mom is trying to ignore the kids and check her email. The kids are climbing on her chair, hanging on her shoulders. Cooper is "doing" Mom's hair. Mom: "Don't you want to go watch more tv?"

10:00 Kids are going nutso, so Mom pulls pillows off the couch and creates a fort. Then heads downstairs to start a load of laundry.

10:05 Mom comes back upstairs to find the fort collapsed, and the kids launching themselves off the "walls" of the fort. Mom moves the couch cushions into the middle of the fort to be the "water". This occupies said nutsos for quite a while. Score one for Mom.


Payton watches...


While the big kids jump





10:45 Mom: "Coop, why is your head wet? Are you that sweaty?" Cooper: "No, it's from the sink." Most of us call the "sink" a bidet. And Zeke is eating the scraps from breakfast out of the garbage can.

10:50 Water running in the bathroom. Mom: "Okay, turn off the water. Cooper, what are you doing with Payton's washcloth? Can you please put it back?" Cooper: "But, Mom, I'm drying my peets!" (feet).

10:52 Water running in bathroom again. Mom walks in with arms full of baby and sighs. Water is shooting out of the bidet, both kids are soaked from the waist down (and Zeke is wearing Cooper's shoes) and the bathroom is covered in water. Everything is drenched. (Seriously?? I was gone for TWO MINUTES) Score one for Kids

11:00 Time to feed the baby. In the midst of all the noise and cleanup, she has passed out.

11:45 Mom has all these ideas for new stuff to make for lunch. The kids are antsy and hungry. Mom makes PB&J's all around...again.

12:30 All the kids are in bed, and Mom is picking up the house. Dishes have been done, phone calls have make, email and facebook have been checked. More importantly, there has been laughter and kisses. It's been a good morning.

12:45 Mom looks longingly at her book and the couch, then heads upstairs to shower (it's been a couple days, enough said)

1:15 Mom steps out of the shower to a little voice singing "Moooooommmmmyyyyyy...Mooooooommmmmmyyyyyy". The little voice needs to go potty. Of course she does, it's nap time.

1:25 Mom comes downstairs to make some more phone calls and work on her to do list (which somehow hasn't even been touched yet today). After making one phone call, and forgetting who the other one was supposed to be to, Mom decides to ignore the singing still coming from upstairs, ignore the to do list, and give in to the book and the couch. Score one for Mom.

1:50 Mom gives in to the calls from upstairs and lets Cooper come downstairs, chattering all the way. Cooper: "And when the little boy (Zeke) and the little baby (Payton) wake up we can go, okay, Mom? And we can go to the grocery, and we can run our errands, okay, Mom? Wish I had a horse. Wish I had a horse of my own."

2:50 Payton is fed and changed and is having the time of her life wiggling around and smiling at random objects in the room. She sporadically lets out little squeals. It's not hard to have the time of your life when you are only two months old.

3:10 All the kids are fed, changed, and clothed. Mom is racing around the house, trying to get everyone out the door to reattempt the errands that were attempted unsuccessfully yesterday. The bank closes in half an hour.

3:30 Mom is careening through roundabouts to get to the bank. Zeke is in the backseat saying "Whoa!!!" Mom slows down.

3:35 Stopped at the flightline. The rotater that flies out once a week is getting ready to take off. The road is so close to the flightline that apparently it is unsafe to drive on while the plane takes off. Mom is watching the plane taxi around, grumbling about the odds, and how mad she is going to be if the bank closes, which she can see across the flightline, by the way. The ground is shaking and Zeke is in the back seat yelling "WOW!!! GOOK!!!" Mom has to admit, it's pretty cool to watch a big airliner take off from this close.

3:40 Getting into the bank before it closes has been successful. The errand that needs to be accomplished was not. Mom is getting frustrated that she has come to the bank two days in a row to pay the same bill, and they still can't figure out how much she even owes.

5:00 Post office has been visited, Dad has joined the crew, and everyone is offloading back home in time to feed the baby before she starts screaming. Score one for Mom.

5:30 Leftovers are microwaved. Mom had purchased and thawed the ingredients to make dinner, but once again, good intentions are shoved aside to keep up with the pace of life.

7:00 Bathtime has somehow turned into a giant family game of hide and seek. The kids cannot stop giggling. Mom and Dad are also laughing at the sight of each other crammed into closets or under the crib. This is the highlight of Mom's day.

8:00 All three kids are in bed and quiet. Mom makes one final attempt at getting something checked off her to do list, and finally gives up and settles herself on the couch with Dad to watch a movie. Score one for Mom. Score one for Dad. We made it.