As a stay at home mom I have had people ask me if it is hard to get 4 kids up and out the door every morning. I first remind them that I also have a husband and then I explain to them that thanks to NMO our mornings have changed a little.
At 6:07 am my alarm goes off during the week. Yes, it's 6:07 that is not a typo, I am weird and I have always been weird. So I put on my slippers and my hotel front desk clerk hat and go to wake everyone. I go to each childs room one at a time and wake them up. I am pretty gentle as I walk over and tap each one of our little blessings and sweetly tell them, "Good Morning." They all wake with smiles and tell me "Good Morning" back. I usually go downstairs and start making homemade biscuits, pancakes or bacon and eggs whichever they prefer. I pack their lunches with fresh fruits and vegetables and cut their club sandwiches into hearts or stars, kiss them on their forehead, and send them off to learn. I really do think Carol Brady would be proud.
That is so funny! I read it out loud just so I could hear how lovely it sounds!
Here is our morning reality, at 6:07 am my alarm goes off and I hit snooze. It goes off again at 6:14 am and I think I growl and get out of bed slowly, very slowly. I would love to say I run to the bathroom because the urge is so strong, but we all know that does not happen. Every child has a specific way they like to be awakened. Yes, it is perfectly fine to think they are spoiled, they are. Feet tingling I shuffle to Jack's room first to wake him. Jack needs to be told to get up sometimes several times but I do it until he answers, once he answers I know he is up and I can move on. My next stop is Sophi's room. Sophi is not a morning person. She has "requested" that I turn on her TV and do not turn off her fan. Most importantly though I have been told "no lights" because the light in the morning causes her to have a headache.
Moving on I head towards Barrett and Olivia's room. They share the bonus room luckily, it is large because they are definitely two different and unique kids. By the way, I am still moving slowly and my dry eyes are still trying to focus. On a side note, I also have Sjogren's Syndrome, but I will save that for later. I know the suspense is rough consider it a cliffhanger. Barrett is actually happy in the morning, honestly she's happy most of the time. Barrett likes you to touch her arm or back and wake her. It takes a minute but it works. She usually sits up and hugs me. Olivia is a whole different story. She likes for one certain light to be turned on. I feel sure that she thinks if I hit the wrong switch then the punishment is jail time. This light is serious business. After all this chaotic nonsense I head downstairs to prepare a gourmet breakfast of toast and/or Pop Tarts, just like a bakery. Usually on my way down I make one last check to be sure Sophi is up.
Are you now asking yourself, "where is that amazing husband you always talk about?" Well Sophi gets her love of mornings from him but by this time he is in the shower and getting ready for work. He has 2 jobs, Bus Driver and Sales Representative. None of our kids are in district so there is no yellow bus for us, Bus Driver Todd to the rescue. Only under "emergency" situations do I put on my Bus Driver hat and take the kids to school. Thanks to NMO I don't always trust my eye (remember that crazy left eye) my feet are pretty much always tingling now and waking up and moving take me a while. Oh that and this stupid catheter, however I am getting pretty good at it. But, don't worry I still do not have plans to make a tutorial video or anything. Long story short, on my days to take them I get up an hour earlier so I make sure I am wide awake and good to go.
By now I am downstairs and I change into my short order cook hat. Ok folks, put on your glasses and get ready because I am about to blow your mind with my skills....
Each kid eats and drinks something different. I plug in the toaster and get to work. Sophi is a cinnamon toast girl with cinnamon butter. I could actually toast that with Jack's "Wild Berry" Pop Tarts because they like the same toaster setting. But, I can't. Jack is usually the first one down in the morning and Sophi is usually the last so her food would get cold. Barrett barely likes her "Strawberry" Pop Tarts toasted she just prefers them "warm." This is where I put my masters degree to work because the toaster is already hot (Wild Berry, remember?) and Barrett will be next down so I throw hers in for mere seconds and tell her "Bon Appetit." Olivia lives on the edge, she likes to mix it up so either her "Chocolate Fudge" or "S'mores" Pop Tart will be next and she is just a regular toasted kind of girl. Finally, Sophi's cinnamon toast gets its turn. I know what you are thinking where are their amazing gourmet café style drinks?
Without further ado, the drinks! Jack likes 2% white milk, Barrett prefers chocolate milk, Olivia has had some lactose issues lately so gets Lactaid and Sophi doesn't like milk in the morning so it is OJ on hot mornings and tea on the cold ones. At this point I am so thankful I have a meteorologist hat to put on now.
During all the toasting I'm packing 4 lunches unless it's Spaghetti day, then I only have to pack 1. Jack has never eaten a school lunch by choice (once or twice he has forgotten to grab his lunch off the counter and had to just suck it up.) It never fails on the mornings when we are off of our game and running late it is "Beefy Nacho" day and I can't even get them to consider a tray. I would like to honor Smuckers with a moment of silence for inventing "Uncrustables." As I am sure you have guessed by now each kid likes different items in their lunch but luckily they all like Uncrustables, PTL!!! They aren't cheap though so for about a week last year I tried to make my own, that was not popular.
Some of the kids take medicine in the morning so I also wear a nurse's hat. As I am sure you are aware I also take quite a bit of medicine. I do much better if it is at a certain time of day. I try really hard not to let the kids see my NMO, so I do my best to take those before the kids come downstairs.
Once all of the kitchen stuff is done, I am exhausted. It is so hot right now I am extra tired and hurt a little more too. Of course with 4 kids someone usually has unkind word for someone else. Between that and how tired I am this will push my patience but I hate for them to go to school upset so I put on my peace keeping referee hat and send them out the door.
My reward every morning after the craziness is my recliner and DVR'd shows. As I have mentioned before I don't like to miss any trips with the Busby's. Wednesdays are my favorite mornings because I watch Dance Moms from the night before and feel better about my parenting skills.
However, the reward I want most after the morning hustle is to be able to go for a walk with a friend, play tennis with my dad or jump in shower in anticipation of meeting a friend for lunch. Unless I have a Dr appointment or an infusion I usually sit for at least an hour. Sometimes I am so tired I even fall asleep. I feel so lazy when I do that. If I listen to my mind in the quiet sometimes I get so down about my laziness I have a tearful pity party. So my hat changes to "patient." I really hope I get to burn that hat one day soon. Until that day though I just keep fighting and looking for more hats in my closet to help me on my journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.