Like any parents, we complain about the bickering and messes and crazy schedules that come with having kids, but it is an adventure that I would not trade in for anything.
With that in mind, here is what today looked like in our "normal" life:
After an early morning dentist appointment, I settled in for 5 hours of design work and a Hulafrog meeting in my office (aka- my closet) interrupted a few times from calls from my Dad with various requests. I drove JP to the train station so he could get in to Boston for a meeting and then I swung by my dad's to drop off some money.
At 2:15 an electrician stopped by to scope out some work we want to have done in the attic. Getting back to work was not successful as I checked in with him periodically and kept Bella as far away from him as I could as she is not a fan of having strangers lurking in the house.
Kylie and our buddy Will got home from school at 3:20 just before the electrician was leaving. After a brief chat about the school day, a snack and a last check in with work emails, we all jumped in the car and headed to school to pick up Ethan & Kaitlyn from chorus at 4. From there, we trekked over to the Boys and Girls Club to wait for Emma who needed to be picked up at 4:30. Will, Ethan & Kylie played tag on the lawn for a few minutes before Will's dad pulled in beside us and grabbed him. Tag just wasn't as much fun without Will and Ethan & Kylie sulked back to the car and jumped in to bicker with Kaitlyn and complain about the 10 minute wait. Finally 4:25 arrived after a very l-o-n-g 10 minutes of noise and Kylie bounced out to go pick up Emma.
From the club we raced home so Emma could quickly get dressed for dance. My dad called again to say he couldn't find his money- I assured him it was in his wallet. Kylie didn't want to stay home alone so she accompanied Emma & I to the dance studio across town. We dropped Emma off and then slowly weaved our way back home through rush hour traffic downtown. Thankfully some silly voices and dialogue made the trip fun along the way. Once home, I raced to make dinner and get it on the table while Kaitlyn informed me that I needed to check my email to find out about basketball assignments. I did and I was glad she asked because after searching through a few days worth of messages I came across one from the Rec Dept that I had missed informing us that her practice was tomorrow night from 7:30 to 8:30. So much for having Wednesdays free and clear....
After a quick clearing of dinner dishes and yet another phone call from my Dad, Kylie and I jumped back in the car to go pick Emma up. Ethan & Kaitlyn chose to stay home and play on the computers some more. Once back home, I warmed up Em's dinner and got a call from Ethan's basketball coach that his practices are going to be Fridays from 8:00-9:00. We'll figure out how to work those around Kylie's Friday night cheerleading as we proceed on.... It always works out somehow!
I reminded everyone that it was a shower night and to get to it. Of course Kaitlyn was the only one who raced up to the bathroom. 10 minutes later it was time to go pick up JP from the train station. Heading towards the door, you would have thought I was condemning my kids to exile. They all started screaming and crying that they had to go with me because they couldn't be alone. Fine.... except Ethan was in the bathroom and needed a few more minutes. When he came out he was buck naked since he had planned to take a shower right after. He looked like a deer in headlights when I asked him to throw on some clothes. In a panic he raced upstairs and returned quickly in a t-shirt and jeans and said he'd be fine without shoes. Really? I could wait 30 seconds for him to grab shoes. Meanwhile, the girls are all waiting in the car and even Bella had decided that she too didn't want to stay home alone and was in the car as well. Miraculously, we made it to the train station just 2 minutes after the train had arrived and we got home safe and sound.
Once again, there is a big glass of wine sitting beside me as I type this out. Our days are definitely full and bustling and loud but that just means that they are full of life. Now we just need to find out when Emma's basketball practices are and prepare for the winter months sitting in gymnasiums for 3 different basketball games every Saturday. We made it through last year and we will make it through again.
Our days of dealing with diapers and new potty users are over and those days seem so much simpler to me now. Today we have a horseback rider, a dancer, a piano player, two trumpet players, two chorus kids, three basketball players, a lacrosse player, a cheerleader and two doing other miscellaneous activities that are thrown their way at the Boys & Girls Club. We also have kids who are happy- most of the time, anyway!
The word stress has been starting to get thrown around a lot lately as well, especially as far as Kaitlyn and Kylie are concerned. Anxiety is something we have been addressing lately. Hopefully, that will pass soon and not worsen. Childhood is supposed to be fun not stressful. I worry that my running around like a crazy lady to get everyone here, there, and everywhere between my busy work schedule rubs off on the kids. Not sure if its that or just their age that is bringing on new fears and concerns and anxieties. That blog entry is yet to be written. I don't ever recall considering myself to be stressed out until college! Elementary school days were simple and carefree. I wish the same were true today.
As I sign off here, I'm honestly not too sure if anyone else besides Kaitlyn ever made it into the shower tonight..... Time to go kiss some heads and find out!
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