morning rush

Our mornings are usually on time with a bit of rushing around...we don't have a lot of extra time but everyone gets out the door and to the bus stop in plenty of time without too much drama.  This morning however was more rushed than normal.

7:00 am - my alarm goes off...I'll hit the sleep button once for just 9 more minutes of rest

7:49 am - I wake up and look at the clock...uh oh, turns out I've been hitting the sleep button in my sleep (yes, I love sleep so much my brain has figured out how to hit the sleep button without fully waking up...if only I could use my powers for good)

7:50 am - I walk by Leah's room and see she is still sleeping, no problem there.  I walk by Jillian's room and see she is already up and downstairs (yay!).

I should add at this point what normally happens in the mornings around here.  Kyle wakes up between 6:30 and 6:45, gets dressed and has breakfast.  By the time I get downstairs each morning Kyle is usually ready to go, I only have to do reminders for brushing teeth and checking backpack.

7:51 am - I come downstairs to find both Jillian and Kyle sitting on the couch, in pjs, watching tv!  I ask them to go upstairs, get dressed and brush teeth

7:52 am - Both children look at me like I have 2 heads and Kyle asks "why?".  My answer "because you have school today" throws him into near tears because it turns out he thought today was Saturday.  I feel for him, I really do, but he needs to be walking out the door in 20 minutes and I just realized he hasn't had breakfast.

7:55 am - I start getting lunches ready while the kids grumpily head upstairs to get dressed

7:57 am - Kyle and Jillian are up in their rooms getting dressed and things are not moving along as fast as I'd like.  Suddenly a brilliant idea strikes!  I offer them each a rice krispie square if they are dressed and fed in time for the bus. 

8:00 am - both kids are downstairs, fully dressed with a smile on their face...happy dressed kids and still 12 minutes to go, excellent.  Gotta love how well bribes work.

8:01 am - Kyle starts eating his cereal and Jillian lets me know she already ate cereal while pointing to her bowl on the counter...score 1 for Jillian!  she starts eating her rice krispie square and I continue making lunches

8:02 am - Leah is calling from her bed.  I will now add that Leah is my last baby which explains why she gets this lovely princess treatment each morning...I carry her downstairs, along with a mountain of stuffies, a pillow and her blanket to the couch. 

8:05 am - Leah is on the couch but is now asking for breakfast.  I tell her if she'll stay on the couch watching Curious George patiently until the kids are on the bus then I'll give her a rice krispie square

8:06 am - I finish packing lunches while thinking how fantastic it is we made rice krispie squares last night

8:09 am - lunches are in backpacks

8:11 am - Kyle and Jillian in front hallway getting boots and jackets on...

8:14 am - and they are out the door!  Bus comes in 2 minutes, it's a 2 minute walk to the corner if one walks in a straight line...but Kyle never walks in a straight line, he's more of the family circus Billy's path kind of guy so we are cutting it close

8:16 am - I see the bus pulls up to the bus stop just as Kyle and Jillian arrive at the corner, phew we made it

8:17 am - I go into the kitchen to get myself a cup of tea and Leah promptly reminds me about her rice krispie treat

Now Leah and I are spending the day with a fun little 2 year old.  The two of them are going back and forth between craft table and puzzles...Leah is enjoying being the big kid, she keeps telling me things Joshua isn't allowed to do because he is a baby.  I've also had to assure her I will clean up her play kitchen at the end of the day because as she said in an exasperated tone "when Joshua is done playing there will be sooo much cleaning up to do in my kitchen".