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Aug 17, 2010

Day One: Mom's version

Several people have asked why Monday, the first day of school, was so crazy for me. It's quite an interesting story (ha!), so here you go:

We are getting new carpet. Garry and I had a 90-minute meeting starting at 9:00 with a guy from Carpet Direct. Before he came I showered and swept and mopped and did the breakfast dishes – and of course got the kids out the door for the first day of school. Then Gavin and Lexi were wild and crazy during the carpet meeting. The guy kept going on and on and on. The presentation was very informative, but about twice as long as it should have been (in my humble opinion).

After he left, I spent an hour doing letters and coloring and whatnot with Gavin while Lexi climbed up and over and under and on the table. Then I made lunch for the kids and started making the traditional back-to-school chocolate chip cookies. I made the sad discovery that we didn’t have brown sugar. So I packed up the kids and we went to the store. The trip was pure insanity with Gavin and Lexi in one cart.

We got home and I made the cookies while the kids ate lunch. I put Lexi down for her nap and was walking down the stairs with Gavin to put him down when a dear friend in Virginia called. I haven’t talked to her for a year (a difficult one in her life), so I knew I had to pick up. Gavin was up for another half an hour while we talked. He just watched TV.

A different carpet guy was supposed to come during this time but he didn’t show. I wrote him a note for the front door saying “come back later!” but he knocked as I opened the door to hang up the note. He stayed for almost an hour trying to convince me I should use him.

Gavin didn’t go to bed until 2:15. Then I had to wake him up at 3:05 to pick up kids from school. Because it was the first day, there were hiccups in the get-to-the-van process. Zach, Tyler, and their friend took 15 minutes to come out of the building. By then Gavin and Lexi were hysterical in their car seats.

Back at home we settled in with cookies and milk, homework, piles of paper for me to sign, after-school jobs, etc. I called the boys’ teachers to change their literacy testing times (they were scheduled in the middle of nap time on Friday). At this point I realized I forgot to put the roast in the oven at noon. Special dinner: fail.

The boys went out to play, the Littles and I went out back, and I called my friend Melanie. While we were talking, both of the boys’ teachers left messages. I went inside to listen to the messages and call them back. Gavin and Lexi followed me inside, screaming hysterically (they have major separation issues thanks to our upside down summer). I locked them out of my bedroom and hid in my closet while I called back the teachers. I missed both teachers at school, but we continued to play phone tag and exchange emails until new literacy times were established. It took 20 minutes for Gavin and Lexi to calm down from their hysteria.

Then Gavin went out with the boys and I put Lexi in the Exersaucer to contain her while I made dinner (tacos). She screamed. Then the neighbor kid ran over Tyler with the garbage can (who knows how that happened) and he was screaming outside. Then Garry texted to say he’d be coming home late. Tyler and Zach came in at 6:00 to start on their dishwasher and kitchen responsibilities while I finished up dinner. Tyler punched Zach because he wasn’t unloading the dishwasher right. I gave Zach a pass on dishes and told Tyler to finish up. He screamed and refused. I sent the big boys to put on pajamas and then come back to dinner.

Gavin and Lexi ate (I lost my appetite). Zach and Ty never came back. At 6:55 I told them they had five minutes to eat. They gulped tacos while I changed Gavin and Lexi for bed and brushed their teeth (I have to sit on Gavin to do this). We all went downstairs and watched a cartoon about Moses from BYU-TV for Family Home Evening. Garry’s mom called to talk to the boys about their first day of school. I told her we’d call back later. I read the first chapter of 2 Nephi to the kids. Just as we were kneeling for prayers, Garry walked in the door. He put all the boys to bed, and I clocked out.

See? Cuh-ra-zy.

7 comments:

The Wizzle said...

Oh my goodness. That is quite a day! The sad thing is, for me at least, when I have days like that I think to myself "You know, this really isn't an out-of-the-ordinary day - this is pretty much MY LIFE!"

Whoa. It's a sobering thought.

Still, normally you won't have two carpet sales pitches. And new carpet might just be worth it! How exciting! You're just redoing the downstairs, or are you covering over the hated wood floors upstairs too?

Shannon said...

It's so nice, I mean, SO NICE to know I'm not the only one with a crazy, mixed up life with kids. You'd think we would get used to this stuff by now, but every day is an adventure, isn't it? Thank you for publishing your insanity so I can feel normal!! And, just know, that you are normal too!

Reynolds Family said...

Wow-I hope the rest of your days are not nearly so crazy. Um...wishing you boredom?

girlygirl said...

I really love your posts. Life with kids is SO crazy! And I only have two. You are so my idol!

Shaina said...

And yet you still managed to do an FHE and scriptures, which I would have just skipped. Still a great mom!

Jeff and Lori said...

Whew! Thank goodness for bedtime!

JulSH said...

This is taking me back in time. Life is still crazy now, but I have to say, "Some things do get better." When Lexi is 4 years old, you will have a better crazy than you do now. I'm not sure that those thoughts are comforting, because I don't know that crazy is ever better...

Chad used to tell me when I'd have a crazy day like yours that "at least all the kids are alive." You can smile because not only are your kids alive, but you got scriptures and FHE in there as well!! Well done!

pass it on!

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