sCraPing cOrnFlaKes oFF thE cEiliNg fAn cAn bE fUn.

this is a paper i wrote in college many moons ago and wanted to share it with ya'll. i got an "A" on it. i hope you enjoy it. it's rather long. i won't be mad if you don't wanna read it. {but i WILL tell Santa, when Christmas comes around..}.

A DAY IN MY LIFE

I got up this morning and said to myself "this is going to be a wonderful day". i gazed out my open window and took a deep breath of morning air, as birds chirped, the grass glistened with the morning dew, and cars drove by on their way to work. what a beautiful morning it was, foggy, cool, and smelling like October... even though it was only august.

i stood there daydreaming of autumns past, remembering special times and the warmth of family, pondering what i was going to make for dinner tonight, and wondering who invented liquid soap, and why.

suddenly, i heard giggling in the background. i brought myself back to reality and proceeded to follow the noise. it got louder as i approached the kitchen. how darling! it was my 2 and 3 year olds having breakfast! if only they knew enough to use bowls. they were so cute!

the 2 year old had emptied a whole box of Rice Krispies in a pile on the carpeted kitchen floor. the 3 year old had helped by pouring a whole gallon of milk over the cereal. the mess was alive.. snapping, crackling, and popping loud enough to wake the dead.

when i walked in, they had teamed up and were pouring a five pound bag of sugar on their breakfast, shaking it all about to cover all the cereal. these guys were no amateurs.. they looked up at me with pride in their accomplishment and big smiles. {would it make me a bad mommy if i gave them spoons and told them to eat up?} its funny, they never taught me how to clean up messes like this in mommy school. i am sure glad they didn't decide to make bacon and eggs for breakfast!

after two and a half hours of cleaning, i was ready to move on with my day. by now, the 7 and 10 year olds were up and arguing as usual, over who would get to sit in the front seat of the car the next time we went somewhere. as i was trying to make sense of this, i realized it was much too quiet in the living room, which always means big trouble around here.

as i went to investigate, i found the 2 year old scooping dirt out of my plants with a spoon, and sprinkling it on the furniture and carpet. i had just watered those plants the night before. they weren't exactly dried yet. the 3 year old was busily driving his dump truck through the little piles, making sure he drove through each and every one. the big tires on his rig smashed the wet dirt ever so nicely into the carpet.

they were having so much fun, i hated to interrupt them. but i told them it wasn't nice to sprinkle dirt all over the living room and scooted them off to their rooms. i also instructed the 7 and 10 year olds to keep them busy for awhile so i could clean up. they soon took them down to the basement to play.

an hour later when i was finished cleaning up the dirt mess, i went downstairs to check on them. i found them all laying in a huge pile of clothes and stuffed animals. can we say "awwwww...?" these had been neatly sorted through to take to Goodwill the weekend before, a project that took me 8 hours to complete. i didn't know if i should laugh or cry. each of them were dressed up in obnoxiously crazy outfits and doing gymnastic moves that would of made the soviets proud.

i sent them outside with some popsicles into our fenced in back yard, thinking they couldn't possibly get in trouble there. the older 2 were in charge of alerting me if anything unusual happened. i started sorting through clothes and after a while i looked at my watch and realized it was lunch time. i knew my lovelies would be hungry by now, so i decided to sort through these clothes later.

i went out to retreat my children only to find they had picked all my tomatoes off the plants, and were covered head to toe with mud! the 10 year old had the hose on and proudly announced they were having mudslides just like those people on the Woodstock commercials were having on TV. Woodstock, really?

i started laughing hysterically because all i could see was the whites of their eyes and they looked alien. they also had little red clumps clinging to them that i could only assume were my tomatoes. i took the hose and washed them off, but as soon as i did, they slid more and got muddy again.

no longer afraid of the hose, i became an open target for mud balls. in a few short minutes i was covered in mud. for the longest time we had a riot, like 5 children frolicking in the sun. i had mud everywhere, i think i even swallowed some.

all of a sudden i heard this little voice at our gate, calling me. oh no! its the mud police i yelled out! i looked again and saw it was just the babysitter. she had arrived to watch the kids while i went to a dr.'s appointment, which i had forgotten about, until then. i think i set the world's record for showering and getting dressed so i wouldn't be late.

i frantically tried to think of all the instructions i wanted to leave with the sitter. my children had a way of telling her i let them do things i really don't. [like melting plastics in the microwave, roller-skating in the house, and dropping the 2 year old down the laundry chute just to see how he'll land].

as i drove away, i realized that i forgot to tell her they needed to eat lunch. i was just a TINY bit frazzled by then. i called her from the dr.'s office only to find that she was doing that as we spoke. she had also bathed them and dressed them in clean clothes, and started a load of laundry. "what a wonderful sitter she is" i thought to myself as i relaxed for the first time today... where else but on the GYN table.

two hours later i arrived back home to my place of security, my very own little castle, my sanctuary, my dwelling of peace and harmony. funny, how just a few hours away can make you giddy.

there were my 4 little angels on the couch, watching a movie. did i step into the right house? was this really MY family? when they so politely said "hi, mommy" i knew it was. they acted as if they didn't even see the wall to wall popcorn on the carpet. well, i couldn't escape now, they had claimed me. it sure did smell good in here though, i thought to myself.

in fact, there seemed to be a bit of a white fog in the air, sort of misty, but dryer, clean smelling, almost powdery. i walked into the kitchen and found everything was covered in white. the ceiling fan was on, creating a delicate white fog that cast a shadow over what must of been a heck of a food fight.

the sitter walked in and explained she only turned her back for a minute to change a diaper, and the 3 year old had emptied a whole container of baby powder all over the kitchen. i was sadly familiar with this behavior. wasn't it just yesterday that he did this in his sister's room, because he wanted to make it snow?

i collapsed into a chair, praying for the energy to make it through this day, feeling defeated and so alone. i wondered what the neighbors would think of me as i rode off in a padded wagon, to be locked up in a place for a long time where you could throw grapes at me and i wouldn't even respond. "she couldn't handle a bit of powder on the floor" or "she lost it over a little mud". no, you couldn't possibly understand a day in my life unless you lived it. can i give you my address?

as i sat there feeling sorry for myself and the lack of energy i possessed, i felt very old. how can a single parent live through this day after day and come out of it sane? memories of the day each of them were born flooded my thoughts and touched my heart. they were all 4 so perfectly made and helpless in my arms. i never felt deeper love than how i felt for my children.

i sat there as many tender memories came to mind and i started to cry. i realized it was their job to do what they were doing, just like it was my job to do what i was doing. and i wouldn't want it any other way.

i walked into the living room, paid the sitter, and snuggled up with my children feeling very, very blessed to have them. true, the day wasn't over yet. dinner and bedtime would soon arrive upon us, each holding experiences of their own.

but cleaning could wait. all i wanted to do right now was enjoy the moment when the 5 of us could get lost in a movie, snuggle, and forget about the pressures of everyday life, even for just a little while.

P.S.

the kicker is, this really did happen to me in one day.

crp