give me strength....

i hate mornings anyway, but the task of dealing with children in the mornings will surely lead to my mental incapacitation. here is a glimpse into a typical morning around my house.

5:45am - mom wakes up and gets coffee.
5:55am - mom goes in and wakes the older boys up. seeing that their alarm is set for the same time as mom's they should already be up but there is a strange phenomenon that occurs at least three days a week where the alarm magically shuts itself off.
6:00am – oldest son (OC) whines his way out of bed. completely wrapped in a blanket he will make his way to the living room to lie on the couch. if the heat is on he will make himself a tent with his blanket and lay on top of it.
6:05am – begin waking up the middle child (MC). i try to be very cheerful and nice as i know he has trouble with mornings.
6:06 – MC begins ritual whining. this is usually when the first symptoms of whatever rare illness is plaguing him that day surface. mom begins getting his clothes ready. this morning i remind him that there was no school and that he was going to the sitter, foolishly thinking this would make him get up a little easier. he states that he does not want to go; he wants to stay home and play gamecube all day. i inform him that he cannot do that but that he can take his gameboy to the sitter. i am then informed that the gameboy is boring and he hates it. then he asks if he can take the case that contains ALL the gameboy accessories and supplies. because some of the items are not needed at the sitters and everything in there was very expensive, i tell him that i will have to think about it.
6:11 – MC: “can i bring it?” mom: “i said i would think about it”
6:12 – MC: “can i bring it?”
6:12:26 – MC: “can i bring it?” mom: “stop”
6:12:38 – MC: “can i bring it?”
6:12:51 – MC: “can i bring it?” mom: “ask again and i will throw it in the garbage!”
6:13 – MC continues whining. OC has fallen back asleep on the vent. mom informs MC that she has his clothes ready and they will be on the chair in the living room. MC informs mom that he hates those clothes and the he will look stupid. mom reminds him that the spiderman pants were his favorites last week when she wouldn’t let him wear them to school. whining continues. MC asks again if he can bring the case. mom says he can bring most of the stuff if he has a good morning, behaves, and is ready on time.
6:14 – mom goes to living room and tells OC to get up and get dressed. whining continues. mom tells both of them that she is going to take a shower and that they better be up and dressed by the time she gets out. whining continues.
6:15 – all the noise has woke the baby who is always happy in the mornings! mom goes in and says good morning to baby and blue (his teddy bear/blankie that i have to greet every morning) baby plays nicely in crib.
6:25 – mom finishes shower, dries off and dresses.
6:26 – mom gets baby out of crib, changes his diaper, and dresses him.
6:30 – mom and baby make their way to the living room. OC has dressed and resumed his position on top of the vent. MC is nowhere to be seen. mom yells for him and whining resumes.
6:35 – mom threatens MC that if he does not get up right now he will be grounded. whining continues.
6:40 – MC makes his way to the living room whining the entire way. he informs everyone that he doesn’t like us. he sits in the chair on top of his clothes. mom goes into bathroom to finish getting ready.
6:50 – mom comes out of bathroom to find MC still sitting in the same spot. she tells him to get up and get dressed now or they will be late. whining continues. MC yells at mom that he doesn’t know where his clothes are. mom tells him that he’s sitting on them. whining continues.
6:55 – MC states that he is ready. mom tells him that he still needs shoes and socks. whining continues. he yells that he doesn’t know where any are. mom informs him that they are where they always are, in his top drawer. whining continues.
7:00 – MC emerges from bedroom wearing socks and his water shoes which are 2 sizes too small. mom informs him that he cannot wear those. whining continues.
7:05 – sounds that could have come from a construction work site start coming out of the boy’s bedroom. OC goes back there to get something and both begin screaming. mom yells to quit. whining continues. crashing noise continues.
7:10 – mom yells “it’s time to go.” whining continues.
7:15 – mom asks OC to put baby in the car. mom yells for MC to come on. whining continues.
7:16 – mom snaps! baby is still roaming the house. OC has just realized that he doesn’t have anything ready to go and rushes to get everything together. MC starts screaming because he doesn’t have the case ready. mom informs him that he can’t bring the case because he didn’t follow the rules. MC insists that he did behave. whining continues.
7:20 – mom begins screaming for the boys to get in the car. MC begins a full blown temper tantrum, screaming as loud as he can. mom puts baby in the car and returns to the back door. MC is still having a conniption fit in the living room. mom’s face turns evil and she tells him to get in the car or else. whining continues. OC comes running to the door obviously trying to sneak something out. whining continues. mom tells OC to put back whatever it is he is sneaking and goes to get MC. MC gets up and runs from mom, but at least goes out the door. whining continues. mom locks door and informs MC that they are leaving and that he better get his butt in the car before she catches him. whining continues.
7:25 – everyone has finally made it to the car and we are ready to go. we are running 15 minutes late, which is actually better than most days.