The Morning Routine

Good morning. It's Wednesday again. Only two more days 'til the weekend. YAY!

Well, I said "good morning", but it's not really good. In my constant struggle to get organized, my husband and I have been putting in extra effort to make the mornings run more smoothly.

Our hopes were less arguing, fussing, and fighting during the morning routine. We wanted to get us up and ready, get the kids up and fed, get their lunches and school papers ready to go, get them dressed and groomed, and everyone off to school and work with minimal hassle.

HA!

I'm beginning to think "organized" is just another way to say, "Hiding the Crazy."

Seriously.

I hear bits and pieces of conversation at my kids' school, and on the outside, it appears they ALL seem to have this organizing beast nailed down tight.

But I must ask, is it possible? Is it really possible to have it that together?

Children who wake up like cherubic angels, smiling, happy, and ready to start the day. Kids who float into the kitchen for their breakfast with nary a peep from their lips. They get dressed the first time you tell them, brush their hair and teeth when you tell them, and NO FIGHTING of any kind.

I just don't see it. Children like that don't exist. And if they do, don't tell me about it. I don't want to hear it. If you have three kids and they all behave and do exactly what you tell them all the time, just count your blessings and don't feel like you have to share with the rest of us.

I'd settle for kids who didn't scream at me or each other from the moment they climb out of bed until they get out of the car at school.

I'd be happy with boys who got dressed the second or third time they were told, not the tenth.

I'd love for my sons to comb their hair and brush their teeth without splashing water all over the bathroom (counter, floor, mirror, all of it!), and all over each other. And this would eliminate the new round of fighting because, "He splashed me!" "Well, he splashed me first!"

But I'm not giving up. I don't believe we'll ever reach morning routine utopia, but I think there has to be a happy middle ground somewhere.

And I will find it. Even if it kills me, or them.

Later!