Wrangling the kids

This morning started early, as usual with Bennett making his usual "Dada! Mama!" morning calls. My husband was feigning deafness, but he already knew that he was on duty this morning, so I'm not sure what that was about. I got up, got a shower and got dressed for church, and headed downstairs where Lance was feeding the kids breakfast. There were cheerios mixed with shredded wheat in the older's bowl and shredded wheat and eggs on the youngest's tray. Hey, they were eating and I didn't have to do it, so what do I care? I grab a cup of coffee, toast a couple pieces of light bread (still trying to get back to my goal weight - just 6 pounds away!), and go check email. When Morgan was finished with breakfast, we got her dressed for church and off we went. On the way out the door, instead of waiting until later when I was silently baffled that the dishwasher had not been unloaded during my absence, I asked Lance to do so while we were gone.

Now, Morgan LOVES going to church. Her favorite part? Chocolate frosted doughnuts and lemonade. Hey, if I were four, that might be my favorite part also. Heck, even at my age it could be a highlight for me if I decided to indulge. After sitting in the courtyard and having a doughnut, lemonade and coffee, I check her into The Zone and drop her off at her classroom. She barely gives me the time of day to give me a kiss goodbye. After the worship service, I go back and pick her up and everyone now knows all about our trip to Hawaii, Morgan's current injuries on her knees, and that we are going to a birthday party later. Goodbye privacy.

We get home and Morgan asks to change into a different dress (she's really into wearing dresses right now for some reason) and since the birthday party we are going to is at a park, I suggest maybe a more casual skort. She finally complies after my promise that she will still be pretty and yes, she will still be able to wear her teddy bear necklace. Once I'm done with her, I go find Bennett and get him dressed. He was going to wear this cute little shark/surfboard romper that he got for his birthday, but HE'S ALREADY OUTGROWN IT. What?? My baby! Oh well - Plan B. I get him dressed, get his hat and shoes on and then go back and remind Morgan that she's supposed to be getting her shoes on. Lance, bless his heart, thought he was being helpful by pulling together food for Bennett to eat at the party. Only, this was a one year old birthday party and they were having food for kids there. I like the effort, though! Once the kids are ready, I set them in the Entry Way, which is the last step before we are in the car in our little world.

Only we haven't loaded up the car yet. Oh, and Lance has to go to the bathroom (this is a running joke with us...whenever we have to go somewhere, we'll be ready to go and then he will, GUARANTEED, have to either (a) brush his teeth or (b) go to the bathroom - ALWAYS). So, I'm wrangling the kids and trying to load the car up also. Oh, and I have a baby swing in the back of my car that's been there in the hopes that I would be going by my friend's house to drop it off. "Morgan, please don't pick up Bennett", "Bennett, please don't hit Morgan", and "Morgan, please close that door" as I'm in and out of the house. I get the gift, the diaper bag, a bag of sand toys/swim gear/blanket/sunscreen, 2 adult size camping chairs, 1 kid size camping chair, and a portable high chair into the car in between coaching the kids to leave each other alone and stay out of danger. Okay - car is loaded, Lance's bladder is empty and we are ready to go! Everyone in the car! As we are driving out of the neighborhood, I look back at Bennett and I notice he's missing his hat. U-turn, back to the house, grab the hat, and FINALLY we are off.

We only got lost once on the way to this park we've never been to before. Which, for us, isn't too bad. Especially since we took the directions I had mapped out from Google Maps and decided we knew better (we did drop the swing off on the way, so we decided to "wing" it from there). But, we finally made it and both kids had fun at the party.

Bennett enjoyed the watermelon entirely (I just adore how he just completely throws himself into whatever he's doing, which includes eating watermelon!) and Morgan had fun playing with the little ones.


After the party, the kids were exhausted and both fell asleep on the way home (of course!). We just got home and we put the kids down to finish their naps. Morgan had a melt down that she wasn't getting a story before nap. When Lance told her it was too late for the nap, she actually said to him that she was just going to check with me, because I'm in charge of the family. I couldn't help but laughing. I mean, I can totally understand why she would think this way. I gave Lance a nice big hug and headed in to discuss the topic with her. When I went into her room, the first thing she says to me is, "I want a story!". I explain to her that I realize that she normally has a story before nap, but because it's so late, we're going to skip the story before nap and maybe we'll do it after this time. Not satisfied with my answer, she continues her tantrum. I tell her that she wasn't very nice to Daddy by telling him that she was going to ask me. I told her that Daddy's decision stands and that she doesn't need to check with me. Then she says, "But Daddy said you are not in charge and I KNOW I'M CORRECT". Ha! Got to love a girl and her convictions. I explain that both Daddy and I are in charge and we will always agree with each other when it comes to her. Not liking my explanation too much, the meltdown continues. I wish her a nice nap and shut the door to screams of "nooooooo!".

I came and sat down to post this post and Bennett "wakes up" (i.e. I don't think he went back to sleep after we got home) and now he's up and hitting my laptop. The wrangling continues....

Life with two kids. Fun. Exhausting. Worth it.