Morning Circus

Getting three kids ready for school every morning is nothing short of a torturous exercise of patience.

I have a schedule posted on the wall for them (for typing ease, they will be referred to as #1, #2, and #3), they each have an alarm clock, and they go to bed pretty early. There are three bathrooms they can use with a total of five sinks. They get their backpacks ready for school the night before along with what clothes they want to wear which have to be approved by Mom. All of this to make it easy in the wee hours of the morning just before school.

Instead, they ignore their alarms and I wake the boy (#1) up until he insists he is awake and just about out of bed as he snuggles more deeply into the blankets. Then to the girls' room which goes a little more smoothly provided I haven't fallen on my face over the stuff littering their floor. #3 hops out of bed and hits the bathroom first and #2 sits up and scowls. I go back to #1's room and wake him up again and usually this time he will sit up. I hand him his clothes and tell him yes, he does have to put on clean underwear and no he cannot have five more minutes because he just had five more minutes and now he has to get moving.

Back to the girls' room where #3 is standing in the pile of clothes on the floor and staring at it. #2 is dressed, but not in the Mom-approved outfit. She has chosen a tank top and knee-length leggings (she is 8). When I say "no" to that fashion statement, she falls onto her bed with her arm over her eyes and wails.Breathe in, Breathe out. By now #3 has dressed and made it downstairs and realized she had homework after all (FYI: Kindergartners have an awful lot of homework.) Homework will have to wait. #1 is walking around his room trying to figure out if he should put his pants on first or his shirt. I get him situated and head downstairs to get breakfast going.

#3 takes forever to eat her Fruit Loops, #2 has now put on suitable attire and from here on out continues at an appropriate pace and some of the attitude has dissipated. #1 comes down to eat, but he moves SO SLOW! Stop. Breathe. Count to Ten.

By the time #1 is eating breakfast, #2 has come downstairs having brushed her teeth and fixed her hair. #3 is upstairs in the bathroom and taking a very long time to brush her teeth because #1 has finished eating and has made it upstairs to yell at her for it. In with the good air, out with the bad air. I head upstairs to intervene and get them both moving in the right direction, thanking God that I can drive them in today and they don't have to catch the bus today because I just heard it drive by our house.

#3 Comes down and I brush her hair and we now have two that have successfully managed to get ready for the day. #1 comes down playing and humming and since Dad works nights and is trying to sleep, this is not the best idea on his part unless he enjoys waking hibernating bears. Then he realizes he has library today and cannot find his library book which is already overdue so we all start looking for that. #2 finds it on the kitchen counter. Then he gets his backpack together, which he had insisted had been done the night before.

While we wait, the girls want a piece of candy since they got ready so nicely, then #1 hears that and they all fuss when I say no. My patience is now gone and I shout them out to the car where they argue over who gets to sit where and then end up sitting in the same spot they do every morning. The five minute ride to school with them strapped in goes fairly well as we have some time to chat together. Then, they hop out of the car, I them I love them and then....

I"M FREE!....Until they get home!