The Little White Cabin: Sippy Cups & Saturday Morning Madness

5:50am: Luke is wide awake… Ask him to go back to sleep, which doesn’t happen. Give him iPad to watch Mickey, so we can get a few more minutes… (Keep in mind I am coming off of 2-days of a 102+ fever, throwing up, etc… still not functioning normally.)

6:15am: Get Luke dressed. Take a shower. Try to wake up. Still moving slow from this flu-stuff. And now I feel a sore-throat coming on... really? I don't need this. So behind at work, behind with bills, etc... "STOP JILL, focus on the now."

6:45am: Joe and Luke head out for their Saturday doughnuts (established to get him out of the house, so Samuel and Rachel can sleep!)

7:00am: Get breakfast ready for everyone (because no, the doughnuts aren’t really what people want to eat – more just the process.) And sometimes I try to be a “fun” mom by responding to a request such as making a “happy face” on yogurt. Samuel gets up and is “raring” to go and is THRILLED to find his yogurt smiling at him, which makes this mom’s heart smile. He brings up 2 sippy cups from somewhere…

7:30am: Joe and Luke back. I scramble to get the coupons, grocery list, bags and my head-on-straight. Joe is working to pack-up a bag for the boys to take to the rec center: extra clothes, snacks and sippy cups.

7:45am: Rachel and I head to the grocery store. It’s a nightmare trying to get my Starbucks, a baby, a sippy cup, grocery bags and coupons into the store. Anyone watching would have been laughing at the scene.

8:00am: Call Joe (3 times before he picks up.) “I forgot the grocery list.” How on earth did I do that when I had it right there?! Joe goes back for the list and then takes Samuel and Luke to the rec center to play.

8:10am: Joe meets me at grocery store. Takes Rachel on “excursions” in a cart while I shop as fast as I can (but given we try to shop once per week, it’s a lot of work!)

9:30am: Arrive back home, try to unpack groceries as fast as we can, but we have to pick-up the boys. Joe heads out to get the boys, while I continue to put things away - and watch Rachel (almost impossible to do at the same time!) She is tugging on the sippy cup drawer, so I get her something to drink.

9:40am: They boys run in the door and scramble to get their soccer gear on, which if not prepped in advance, is a nightmare. Who came up with soccer uniforms anyway? Getting socks over shin guards is impossible for a 3-year-old… meaning, more parent intervention needed to get out the door!

9:55am: We all load in the car and head to the Soccerplex (yes, we are now late, which isn’t how we like to operate.) I coax Luke onto the field once again (Joe calls me the “Luke-whisperer.”) Then they both play for 45-minutes, while we work to keep Rachel happy (and, yes, she could have stayed home with one of us, but it was their last day of soccer, so we both wanted to watch.) I am starting to second-guess the decision as I am not feeling very well.

11:00am: Have to stop by Target because of course, we forgot some critical items at the grocery store. 1) Chicken and 2) a newspaper (to start our fires of course!) I run into to grab them, while Joe attempts to keep the children quiet (yea right…) but of course, I get in there to find that Target doesn’t carry newspapers? Really? Sigh… Get home, get the kids out of the car and see another sippy cup in the mini-van (gross, looks like old milk.) :-(

11:15am: Everyone is tired and dying of hunger. And, every kid wants something different. Not that we cater to their every whim, but sometimes I just want them to eat. So it was Mac & Cheese for Rachel, Ramen for Luke, PB&J for Samuel, and leftover pizza for Joe (wow, just realizing how unhealthy that sounds, doesn’t it?)

11:30am: Boys want to play outside. GREAT IDEA! Joe takes them downstairs so I can clean up the kitchen that 30-minutes ago looked great. L Rachel is tired and cranky, but we messed her up by taking her to soccer. Our fault!

12:30pm: The boys are being wild, rowdy and rugged. I am trying to clean out the kiddos sock drawers (I have to do these organization things one at a time in life as there is just no time – I have newborn socks in Rachel’s bin?! Sheesh...) Rachel is hanging on my leg – she is so tired. Can’t wait any longer. Put Rachel down.

12:45pm: Luke is being a pill. He is so tired. But he won’t’ allow anyone to get near him except me. Drop what I am doing (so much for socks.) Put Luke down. But first we have to go upstairs to get water in a sippy cup.

1:00pm: Exhausted. I should be doing laundry, prepping dinner, washing sippy cups or cleaning something. But I just need a break. I decide to go to the office, close the door and work on the soccer video and write this blog post.

1:50pm: Current time. I am getting anxious and feeling guilty for taking 50-mintues of time to do this. So, I have to stop now. But sometimes it feels good to vent a bit, as this is what every weekend (and actually each & every day in some variation) is like for us. I don’t mean to play martyr – more just wanting to share how crazy-busy life is… and help to explain the reason I am such a horrible friend, daughter, sister, aunt, etc.. that I am at this stage of life. I forget birthdays, events, meetings, etc… Heck, I can’t even remember my own grocery list! :-( And man, getting sick on top of everything really throws me for a loop.)

I love my husband. I love my kids. I love my life. And as I will ALWAYS say, I know I am blessed beyond measure. But I sure do hope things will calm down at some point in the near future – before I can’t remember my own name. (Oh… and another wish is that we could stop going through so many sippy cups! I think we must go through 10 per day…)