Day In The Life (Morning)

One of the questions I am most frequently asked is what my days look like as a mother to a large family. While we try and maintain a structured schedule with a general idea of what is supposed to happen there is no average day. Every day is different and nothing ever goes as planned. Some days  I don't get dressed. Some days a tantrum takes up so much time that we've missed a part of naptime. Some days I don't do any chores, where as some days I get a lot of chores done. It just depends on the day, what we have going on, and what type of mood everybody is. If I'm in a good mood, things tend to go good. If the kids are in a bad mood, things tend to go really bad. At the end of the day I look back and hope that a lot got accomplished, whether it be the grocery shopping or the laundry or reading with the kids, but if it didn't I'm usually okay with that. There is no such thing as a perfect day for my family. That comes with having a large family. And you know what, I do not care about smoothly run, scheduled days where I get everything done and time for myself as much as I care about Maya, Amari, Kenyan, Gianna, Ira, Arlet, Elaina, and Gabriella Kingston... oh, and that amazing, caring, helpful husband of mine, Wren.

Here is what my morning looked like today...

5:30am- My alarm goes off. Every night I go to bed and hope that my night of slumber will be peaceful and I won't be woken up by any of the children, but like every single night since I have become a mom I am woken up. Once, twice, maybe three times... if I'm lucky. Other times it is more like five times a night. I am so exhausted and ponder hitting snooze, but I know I have to get up. I have a lot to do and I need my day to run smoothly so it's up and moving for me. This morning I have scheduled (for only the first hour of my day!): a morning run with friends, a shower, and, hopefully, fifteen minutes to get dressed, do my hair, and put on makeup. If I'm lucky this will happen, if I'm not lucky I will have to resort to sweats, my hair in a ponytail, and no makeup.

6:30am- I am back from my run with friends. It was great; four miles in forty-five minutes. I've been running almost every morning for weeks now, while Wren is asleep and can stay home with the kids, and I love it. Running not only gives me a newfound energy, but an opportunity to get away from motherhood for an hour. It's just me, my friends, and our "Running Moms Club." Just as I had hoped I came home at 6:30am, showered until 6:15, and got dressed, did my hair, and did my makeup in forty-five minutes. By 7am I am ready to start my day!

7:00am- Wren is up and has started the coffee. The big kids (Maya, Amari, Kenyan, and Gianna) have their weekly school program today so I have to make lunches and get them ready for school. (As a homeschooling mom I feel so weird saying that!) I try to make healthy lunches that are also delicious and fun. But it gets tricky with four (mildly picky) kids. Maya and Kenyan do not like crust, Amari and Gianna do. Maya is allergic to strawberries. Kenyan loves vegetables, while the other kids prefer fruit. This all makes me wonder: have I turned into a short-order chef? I have decided on peanut butter and banana sandwiches in the shape of stars (no crust for Maya and Kenyan!), kiwis and grapes, carrot sticks, and a cheese stick. Oh, and lets not forget about a note for each of the kiddos.

7:15- I have fifteen minutes before the kids wakeup. I have a huge decision to make: I can either use the fifteen minutes of spare time to make the kids a delicious, healthy breakfast other than cereal OR I can use the fifteen minutes to catch up on my emails, call my sister, and drink my coffee in peace. Decisions, decisions, decisions. I feel like a contestant on Deal or No Deal deciding if he should accept the Banker's offer or keep playing the game to try and win the million dollar prize. I decide to surprise the kids and make them a different than usual breakfast. On weekdays we tend to have cold cereal, oatmeal, or yoghurt and granola, whereas on weekends we have eggs, pancakes, or waffles, but I feel like surprising my babies. So I whip up something quick that the kids will love: cheesy scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit salad.

7:30am- Alarms go off for the older kids and Wren goes into the little girls room to wake them up (Ira, Arlet, and Elaina), with the exception of Gabriella who is a newborn and sleeps until she wants. Everyone makes their way to the kitchen. I give each child a kiss and say good morning and then they each take a seat at the table. Some of them are cranky, others are pleasantly and excitedly surprised for the breakfast I made. We eat for fifteen minutes, all while doing morning scriptures. We have a few minutes leftover so Amari vividly tells the family about the dream he had the night before. "I was being chased by a monster but my pet monster came to save me so I got on his back and we ran away from the bad monster! It was awesome!" I love his imagination.

7:50am- Wren and I have less than an hour, fifty minutes to be exact, to get the older kids ready for school: dressed, teeth brushed, and hair done. I settle the little girls in their playpen with coloring books and crayons (and baby monitors!) so that Wren and I can divide and conquer the children. I take the girls, Wren takes the boys. He hates doing the girls hair, so I'm usually the one who ends up with the girls each morning. The clothes I picked out for the kids are in their bedrooms. Maya is wearing a purple shirt with a butterfly on the front and a striped purple skirt. Kenyan and Amari are matching in blue V-neck shirts and black shorts. Gianna is wearing a pink dress with yellow leggings. Then we do their hair: braided ponytail for Maya, a quick brushing for the boys, and a bun for Gianna. Their teeth get brushed. Shoes are on. I snap a quick picture because the kids look so cute and are all matching. Plus, I can't take the picture after they come home from school because their outfits will most likely be stained and the girls hair will not be as perfectly done as when they left in the morning. Soon it is...

8:45am- We're five minutes off schedule but it's only a two minute drive to school so that is okay. Usually we'll walk as a family to school and drop the kids off, but today the younger girls aren't even dressed yet and Gabriella is still sleeping (say what?). Today Wren will take the girls to school on his way to work. School starts promptly at 9am, though, and so does Wren's job so I kiss the kids and Wren and they are all quickly out the door. As soon as the door slams shut is when conflict begins. Ira starts crying for Wren. This makes Elaina upset, which makes Arlet upset, which wakes Gabriella up. Oh, how great. I run and pick Gabriella up who, thankfully, stops crying as soon as she feels my touch. We head into the playroom where the girls are and I sit down and comfort the three of them, reminding them, like always, that Daddy will be back. Ira is very attached to her father and, because of her experience in an orphanage in Ethiopia, has developed major attachment issues to both Wren and myself. If Wren isn't home she gets very upset. If I am not home she gets very upset. If both of us aren't home she gets EXTREMELY upset. But, Wren and I are committed to Ira and knew that adopting from Ethiopia would come with challenges. We love her and are here for her 100 percent.

9:00am- I get Ira, Arlet, Elaina, and Gabriella dressed for the day. This is way harder than dressing four kids for school because the girls cannot sit still for more than a minute and I have to keep all of them in one room with me while I dress them. This takes twenty to thirty minutes on a good day. Today is a good day, it takes me twenty-five minutes. Although during these twenty-five minutes I thought it was going to take an hour! Gabriella wouldn't stop crying, Arlet wanted to be held, Ira was climbing on top of me, and Elaina knocked over a basket of dirty clothes. I take what seemed like one hundred deep breaths before I'm finally done. Ira is in a yellow shirt with white polka dots and blue jean shorts. Arlet is dressed in a pink romper with flowers. Elaina is dressed in a pink dress with ruffles across the bottom. Gabriella is dressed in a purple onesie that says "I'm cute, aren't I?" Oh yes, baby girl, you are.

9:30am- We head outside to play while it is still nice outside. The forecast says it's going to rain so I want to get the girls outside to play and run around and lose some energy before naptime. If they don't do something to get their energy out each day than there is no hope that they'll fall asleep for nap. And trust me, I need them to take their daily naps. We sit in the front yard. I hold Gabriella who is dosing off between consciousness and sleep. Ira waters our flowers. Arlet and Elaina draw on the driveway with paint. A couple times some other neighborhood moms walk by and we get into talking. Really makes me appreciate living in such a family friendly neighborhood. At one point Ira falls and scrapes her knee and let me tell you my little drama queen acted AS IF IT WERE THE END OF THE WORLD. There was screaming and tears and panic over one little scrap with absolutely no blood. Once again this is over the conditions she lived in in Ethiopia and the constant fear of death my poor daughter had. Anyways, we all went inside, I cleaned it, put a Dora the Explorer sticker on it, and Ira was all better.

10:00am- The girls sit at the kitchen table and work on a jigsaw puzzle while I whip up their morning snack. A couple minutes later an argument abrupts between Ira and Elaina. There is yelling and crying between the two of them and even hitting. I do not tolerate any violence in my home so it was straight to timeout for the two of them. The rule in our house is a 5-minute automatic timeout with an additional 5-minutes if the child does not stop crying, throws a fit of any kind, is argumentative, etc. One of my daughters only had to stay in timeout for the required five minutes, the other had to stay in timeout for five additional minutes. This pushed snack back by five minutes but finally we all have snack together- apples and broccoli- with a lecture about why it is important to be nice to people, especially sisters, and to remember that, at the end of the day, all my children has is their siblings so it is important to nourish their bond and be caring towards each other. How do you translate that to a 3-year-old and 2-year-old? I tried my hardest and I think I got it right. Afterwords Ira walked up to Elaina and hugged her. Aw!

10:30am- Naptime for the girls. We complete our daily ritual of cleaning up snack time and playtime, go to the bathroom, and then I tuck each girl in for a nap. Hopefully they'll sleep the whole 120 minutes. I think so, they burned a lot of energy playing outside.  Once the girls are asleep I start my daily chores: laundry, dishes, etc. On today's list is laundry, breakfast dishes, vacuuming, and I have to make the grocery list for the upcoming week. I walk into the laundry room, which is also where the kids keep their school supplies (backpacks, lunch pales, etc.) and see Maya's fieldtrip permission form sitting there. Silly Maya, she forgot her form. Oh well, I guess she'll have to turn it in next week. Except, NO, it says right on the front that it is due today or else she cannot go on the field trip. What?! I call Wren and see if he can come home early so I can run by the school and drop the permission slip off. No, he is in a meeting. I call my next door neighbor, Mrs. Perkins. No, she's in Italy. Finally a lightbulb goes off in my head and I call the school to see if I can fax it to them. Perfect, I can. Problem solved. That was a complete waste of stress and madness for twenty minutes. I continue with chores.

11:30am- An alarm on my phone goes off. I quickly turn it off or else it will wakeup the girls and I do not want that to happen. I read the label on the alarm and it says "Mothers Retreat Conference Call." Oh shoot, I completely forgot. I run upstairs to my office but realize I forgot the baby monitor so I run back downstairs. Once I'm back in my office I shut the door and begin the call. It was very successful and we (the co-planners of this event and I) got a lot planned for our upcoming retreat.

12:15pm- Once I finish the call I look at the clock and realize the girls will be up in 15 minutes. Wow, I completely lost track of the time. I run downstairs to the kitchen and start lunch. Today's menu includes grilled cheese, grapes, and carrot sticks. In the middle of cooking the grilled cheese I burn one of the sandwiches. I'm surprised the fire alarms didn't go off! And as I am chopping the carrot sticks I realize none of the girls can eat hard carrots because of their baby teeth. I quickly change their vegetable from carrot sticks to tomato wedges. Lunch gets done cooking at exactly 12:30pm, which is right when the girls wakeup from their naps. Record time! I place everything on the table and here a door open, followed by footsteps and the word "Mommy, we're up."

It's only noon and my day is only half way done. Oh. My. Goodness.

Part 2 of Day In the Life is coming soon!