Today was one of those days. Good grief. I made up a giant list of things to accomplish around the house (cleaning jobs, laundry, paperwork, homeschooling, fun with each child, exercise, baking…). I started at 7 in the morning and by 5 my house was messier than it was to begin with and the kids had about driven me to drink.
(Actually, since I had a glass of wine with dinner I suppose you could say they did drive me to drink! And lest that sound like some sort of fancy dinner, I should mention that dinner was frozen pizza and grandma’s green beans — and the wine came with a screw cap.)
Some of the more memorable moments…
- Alex took a black marker to Daddy’s new chair, the wall, the couch, the storage cubes, several toys and himself. Thank goodness it was washable and came out of everything that mattered.
- Jack spat on Anna.
- Alex chased Jack around with a badminton racket and whacked him whenever he got close enough.
- Victoria and Anna fought like cats and dogs.
- A girl called Anna a freak for having sprayed pink hairspray in her hair.
- Alex turned off the router and inadvertently disabled and reset it, leaving the house without internet and Daryl on the phone with tech support for 20 minutes to get it back — for the second time this week.
- There was seemingly endless bickering, complaining, tattling, squabbling and general unhappiness.
- My living room looked like it had been ransacked by the DEA and several savage dogs. It still does.
- I shouted more times than I can count at the whole lot of them, hubby included.
I ended up stomping off upstairs for an hour while Daddy took over. He made dinner and I soaked in a bath and surfed the internet until I felt up to mothering again.
But despite the never-ending mayhem, there was some good today. It took a while to be able to see it, but there was plenty….
- I managed to get almost completely caught up on laundry, which I think last happened in March of 1999.
- I played with the kids and they happily used their new workbooks that a friend gave us.
- I got the back porch cleaner than it’s been in years.
- I didn’t have to make dinner.
- I got lots of that list done, even if it didn’t seem like it.
- I made two loaves of bread and shared some with a very appreciative neighbor.
- The kids and I got to meet and love on a very happy Springer Spaniel puppy.
- Alex said a few new words and gave a lot of hugs.
- Anna and I made each other over (I told her to make a list of 5 things she’d like to do with me today and I’d pick one) and she loved it.
- Jack made some new friends.
- Victoria made cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
- And that girl was nothing but jealous. Anna rocked pink hair. 🙂
And then there was the magical. We all piled into the van and drove out to a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, where we leaned on the van and watched the Perseid meteor showers. It was hours before the peak period (which is around 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.) but without the moon up yet it was easier to see the sky. We saw about a dozen between us all, and one beautiful one that lit up the sky.
If you haven’t peeked at the wonders going on up there yet (and you’re on this side of the world), I really recommend it! It’s magical stuff. It sort of puts things in perspective!
Here’s to maddening kids, cheap wine, washable markers, pink hair spray, endless laundry, homemade bread, messes and meteors. The good and the bad and the magical… it’s a package deal.
And while it may not always seem like it, it’s a pretty great package.
Happy Thursday!
~Alicia