To some, it may have seemed like an amusing start to the day...

John came home this afternoon, and was asking me how my day went, and how the kids did getting out of the house this morning, and Hanna making it to school once again after a two week break. I couldn't help but think, to some, it may have seemed like a rather amusing start to the day. In my shoes, it was far from amusing, at the time, anyway. I awoke to the sound of the television being turned on in the living room, and the sounds of my least favorite cartoon, SpongeBob, Square Pants. When I came out into the room, Hanna was sitting on the love seat, wearing a purple spandex leotard, and had a hair scrunchee in hand, asking me if I would please put it in her hair. I agreed to put the scrunchee, but commented that she wasn't wearing the leotard to school. She replied, "but everyone will say I look cute." Sigh. I said, "yes, you would look cute, but you're not wearing it." Okay, here we go. The moaning and complaining began. I said, it's going to be a warm day, so go get a pair of shorts, a tee shirt, and a pair of socks, and let's get dressed. She didn't make any movement in that direction, and being that it was still early enough, I wasn't concerned yet. I asked her if she'd like me to fix some of the blueberry pancakes we picked up yesterday at Wal-Mart, and that brought a smile to her face, and enthusiasm for breakfast. As I was doing that, I heard a different tone of a sneeze come from the living room, which I immediately recognized as Daniel. I asked him if he would like a blueberry pancake, and he looked bewildered, and said he wanted a waffle. His favorite breakfast! I went ahead and heated enough pancakes for both, since I could tell he didn't realize what I was talking about. Once I called them both to the table, Daniel looked over at Hanna's plate (the grass is always greener) and said, "I want to try one of those." So, I switched plates with him, me taking the waffle, him taking the blueberry pancake, just as Hanna was enjoying. Okay.. breakfast is under control!

Now it was time to start the battle of getting dressed. Daniel said.. "it's hard, I need you to help me. I'm sleepy." Already, I'm feeling exasperated, and it's only 7:40 in the morning! We got him dressed, and I went and fixed his toothbrush so he could brush his teeth. (A 4 year old with a tube of toothpaste on his own is a BAD combination! Trust me!) Moving on to Hanna. At this point, she's half on the couch, half on the floor, sprawling into some type of seizure, complaining about who knows what, and just resisting getting dressed. Finally, after both of us arguing, and her telling me.. yes, her telling me, to quit yelling at her, she finally got dressed. However, I did threaten that if she didn't take that leotard off, I would remove it, and it would be the last she saw of it! That motivated her!

Moving on, it's 8:15, we're out the door! Finally! Half way to school, the bickering over who's touching what in the car begins. Wow, I love school mornings! So much to look forward to! She's smacking Daniel's hands, yelling.. "don't touch my book." "Hanna, that's mine!" Enough already! 8:25, Hanna's dropped off, headed down 218 to turn onto Henley to take Daniel to school. The whining... "I wanted to go straight! I don't want to go this way." Oh, like I'm supposed to listen to a 4 year old backseat driver?? Not! We're going this way, besides, I want to say Good Morning to Miss Connie, the crossing guard! 8:45, got Daniel dropped off, and had a chuckle with his teacher, Miss Vickie, that he said last night he wants to have a sleep over with Mackenzie. I said, She's a girl Daniel, you can't have a sleepover with a girl." He replied without hesitation, "she can sleep in Hanna's room". His teacher laughed, and said, "Well, he's got it all figured out. Compromises!." Mackenzie is apparently a nice little girl, I've not had the pleasure of meeting her, but Daniel talks about her all the time, and says most days, "she's my bestfriend."

Finally home, and sitting at my computer, going over the day's tasks.. I hear whining in the living room! Not from a child, but the dog! She's back in the routine, and she was sitting by the leash whining! I said, let me get all this stuff settled, and we'll see what we can do. I took care of what was immediate, and went and picked up her leash. I said, "Let's go!", and she came running, bouncing through the living room!

As I was walking the dog, I was pondering, is it just me? Is there something about me that instills chaos into my morning? But, then, when I returned to my desk, a friend and co-worker sent me an IM (instant message). "It's official, I hate mornings!" She then went into her morning's chaos, with her 10 year old son, who started his new school yesterday after a big move from Illinois to Tennessee, and they seemed to have quite the morning, with just one child. So, I don't feel so bad! I guess it's going on in most households in the morning, with mothers, fathers and children. When Hanna was a baby, she used to cry all the time in the car seat, and it would put me on edge while driving. Gee, I guess some things haven't changed! Anyway, after that, I always said.. "Don't push the lady in the mini-van too far! You don't know what kind of road rage is building up inside there that she's trying to suppress!"