It's never a good sign when the mornings get off to a rocky start. Garrett and Landon are whining after only being up for 30 minutes, Cole and Bella refuse to wake up and get dressed...and Tim is still in the shower getting ready for the day. It's moments like this where all I can do is laugh because...really....what other option do I have? I did consider drinking a couple glasses of wine but that really wouldn't help the situation, would it? I'd just be drunk and still trying to get my kids ready to start the day.
Instead, I started brewing the awesome Tim Horton coffee that
Lana sent me, which filled the whole house with this amazing coffee smell that actually made my mouth water. I'm seriously considering moving to Canada just for the coffee and the maple syrup. I'm sure Lana would let me and my 4 kids move in with her and her 2 kids. We could be the next Jon and Kate, plus 8....well, except we'd be Lana and Helene, plus 6...and we're not a couple...and we'd only have 2 sets of twins and 2 singletons, not sextuplets. Okay, so where was I going with all this??? I'm not really sure...
So I finally got Garrett settled down. How did I do that? This is awful but I let him watch the movie, Kung Fu Panda. He's obsessed with it. The first thing I hear on the baby monitor in the morning is "Panna" and it's the last thing I hear him say as I lay him down to sleep at night..."nigh, nigh...Panna". So while Garrett stood in front of the tv completely in awe of "Panna", I got Cole and Bella awake enough to get them dressed.
Then I started making breakfast for the kids. Cole wanted french toast and I didn't feel like making french toast this morning so we argued about that for a couple minutes. It ended with him in tears and me saying "Oh God....how much longer is it gonna take for that coffee to finish brewing?" He ended up agreeing to an english muffin with peanut butter. Bella wanted an english muffin with cheese. Garrett didn't want anything at first but then agreed to some Kix cereal as long as I gave it to him in a bowl of milk. What am I...high? Like I'm gonna give a 22-month old toddler a bowl of cereal with milk in it?? But you know, this morning, I just didn't care...the kitchen floor can be cleaned. I just wanted to drink my coffee so he got his bowl of cereal with milk (and most of it did end up on the floor)! Landon wanted a waffle with peanut butter. Easy enough....I happened to have some leftover waffles in the freezer.
Finally got the kids to all sit at the table to eat breakfast. Everyone's happy....okay, not gleefully happy with cheery smiles but happy enough in my book. I mean, I wasn't hearing birds chirping in the background and the sun wasn't smiling at us or anything like that. But it was close enough to fairy-tale happy as I'm gonna get around here, especially at 7:30 in the morning. I'm finally sitting down, drinking my coffee and checking my e-mail. Then all hell breaks loose....Cole and Landon are fighting over who has more oranges. Bella is mad at Garrett because he's trying to drink her chocolate milk.
I moved Garrett to other side of the table and then I moved Landon over to the counter where I was sitting. Then Landon points to his plate and I notice there's no waffle on it but I had just given it to him like 2 minutes ago. I feel my blood beginning to boil. I want to yell at the top of my lungs "For the love of God and all humanity, can you all PLEASE get along for just 10 minutes?". But instead I quietly ask, "alright, who took Landon's waffle?" The other 3 kids shrug...they apparently have no clue. I say, "come on....someone took his waffle...own up to it now...it's not a big deal. Look, I'll turn my back for a minute and whoever took the waffle can put it back on his plate, no questions asked...". But still...no one owns up to taking the waffle.
You know those moments where you honestly believe there must be steam coming out of your ears because you're so upset and worked up, like you see in cartoons? I kept thinking "I must be dreaming this....I'm not really awake...." Is this really gonna be how today is gonna start?? I was already making plans to excuse myself to the bathroom, where I would lay on the floor in the fetal position and repeat to myself, "God doesn't give me more than I can handle....God doesn't give me more than I can handle".
Then Landon starts whining because he just wants his waffle back. I keep telling myself, "Chill out...keep cool, keep calm...this is NOT a big deal...it's not worth getting upset over" and I'm about to head to the freezer to grab another waffle, I look at Landon to tell him that I'm gonna fix him another one. And then I saw this....(of course I had to grab my phone to take a picture of it)
The peanut butter made the waffle stick to his shirt. He had no clue and I obviously hadn't noticed. I felt like the little old woman who's looking everywhere for her glasses and then someone points out that she's wearing them!!
I just looked at the other kids and said, "well, no one ever said that Mommies are perfect....now stop laughing at me and finish your breakfast!!" I have clearly lost my marbles. Not only because I didn't notice the damn waffle stuck to his shirt in the first place, but also I'm now realizing that I have conversations with myself WAY too much.
Instead, I started brewing the awesome Tim Horton coffee that Lana sent me, which filled the whole house with this amazing coffee smell that actually made my mouth water. I'm seriously considering moving to Canada just for the coffee and the maple syrup. I'm sure Lana would let me and my 4 kids move in with her and her 2 kids. We could be the next Jon and Kate, plus 8....well, except we'd be Lana and Helene, plus 6...and we're not a couple...and we'd only have 2 sets of twins and 2 singletons, not sextuplets. Okay, so where was I going with all this??? I'm not really sure...
So I finally got Garrett settled down. How did I do that? This is awful but I let him watch the movie, Kung Fu Panda. He's obsessed with it. The first thing I hear on the baby monitor in the morning is "Panna" and it's the last thing I hear him say as I lay him down to sleep at night..."nigh, nigh...Panna". So while Garrett stood in front of the tv completely in awe of "Panna", I got Cole and Bella awake enough to get them dressed.
Then I started making breakfast for the kids. Cole wanted french toast and I didn't feel like making french toast this morning so we argued about that for a couple minutes. It ended with him in tears and me saying "Oh God....how much longer is it gonna take for that coffee to finish brewing?" He ended up agreeing to an english muffin with peanut butter. Bella wanted an english muffin with cheese. Garrett didn't want anything at first but then agreed to some Kix cereal as long as I gave it to him in a bowl of milk. What am I...high? Like I'm gonna give a 22-month old toddler a bowl of cereal with milk in it?? But you know, this morning, I just didn't care...the kitchen floor can be cleaned. I just wanted to drink my coffee so he got his bowl of cereal with milk (and most of it did end up on the floor)! Landon wanted a waffle with peanut butter. Easy enough....I happened to have some leftover waffles in the freezer.
Finally got the kids to all sit at the table to eat breakfast. Everyone's happy....okay, not gleefully happy with cheery smiles but happy enough in my book. I mean, I wasn't hearing birds chirping in the background and the sun wasn't smiling at us or anything like that. But it was close enough to fairy-tale happy as I'm gonna get around here, especially at 7:30 in the morning. I'm finally sitting down, drinking my coffee and checking my e-mail. Then all hell breaks loose....Cole and Landon are fighting over who has more oranges. Bella is mad at Garrett because he's trying to drink her chocolate milk.
I moved Garrett to other side of the table and then I moved Landon over to the counter where I was sitting. Then Landon points to his plate and I notice there's no waffle on it but I had just given it to him like 2 minutes ago. I feel my blood beginning to boil. I want to yell at the top of my lungs "For the love of God and all humanity, can you all PLEASE get along for just 10 minutes?". But instead I quietly ask, "alright, who took Landon's waffle?" The other 3 kids shrug...they apparently have no clue. I say, "come on....someone took his waffle...own up to it now...it's not a big deal. Look, I'll turn my back for a minute and whoever took the waffle can put it back on his plate, no questions asked...". But still...no one owns up to taking the waffle.
You know those moments where you honestly believe there must be steam coming out of your ears because you're so upset and worked up, like you see in cartoons? I kept thinking "I must be dreaming this....I'm not really awake...." Is this really gonna be how today is gonna start?? I was already making plans to excuse myself to the bathroom, where I would lay on the floor in the fetal position and repeat to myself, "God doesn't give me more than I can handle....God doesn't give me more than I can handle".
Then Landon starts whining because he just wants his waffle back. I keep telling myself, "Chill out...keep cool, keep calm...this is NOT a big deal...it's not worth getting upset over" and I'm about to head to the freezer to grab another waffle, I look at Landon to tell him that I'm gonna fix him another one. And then I saw this....(of course I had to grab my phone to take a picture of it)
I just looked at the other kids and said, "well, no one ever said that Mommies are perfect....now stop laughing at me and finish your breakfast!!" I have clearly lost my marbles. Not only because I didn't notice the damn waffle stuck to his shirt in the first place, but also I'm now realizing that I have conversations with myself WAY too much.