Back-to-school mornings – Hive and Nest

I have successfully gotten up two mornings in a row at 5:15.  It is such a hideous hour, but I am really uptight about getting ready before the kids wake up (I think it’s because I’m so vain.  I don’t want to risk the chance of having to go into the school looking unkempt and ugly.)    I also work out because I can’t very well get dressed and do make-up only to sweat myself up two hours later. Mister thinks I’m abandoning him if I work out at night (plus I’m just too wasted to do it then), so I really have no choice.

By the time all the kids are out of the house for school, I’ve been awake for almost four hours. It’s a bit pathetic to be taking a Mt. Dew break at 9:00 am, but my body is crying for it.  

I fell asleep at 10:45 last night.  This is unheard of, especially for someone in my family.  As evidenced by the fact that my mother called to chat at 11:45 p.m. I told her she’d woken me up and she said that was too bad, but she had just read a book that was really good and would be sending it to me.  And then she described the characters and the plot. Why that couldn’t wait until morning, I’ll never know.  That’s just how my mother is.

Usually I start the school year out strong, making big breakfasts, nice lunches and getting everyone up early and out the door on time. But getting back into the school groove this year has been hard.  We’re out of eggs (I bought 36 eggs last week and they’re already gone) and buttermilk, so no pancakes, waffles or french toast.  Lunches have been pathetic (peanut butter crackers today.  But at least I assembled them myself; they’re not from a package.) and I’ve had to shout “you’d better run or you’ll be late” to each of the children as they head out the door.

It doesn’t help that this morning Mister stumbled out of the bedroom pretending to be asleep and walking into walls and falling over.  Everybody was shrieking with laughter, but it just made me angry that nobody was following my schedule. If Mister and I died today at least they would have happy memories of one of us.

I promise I’ll go to the store and buy some food today.  I’ll also try really hard to get the kids to lay out their clothes before they go to sleep.  I always mean to do this, but by the end of the day I’m so sick of the kids that I just want them to go to bed and leave me alone.  I’m just not a “night before” plan-aheader.  I should be as it would save me a great deal of grief. But I prefer a life of procrastination and not facing facts. It suits me so well.