Closet Chaos

For every wonderful day we have, there are 75 days that make me wish I had a j-o-b. O.K., maybe not 75, but there are certainly off days that more than balance out all the sweet moments I get to share with my kids.

My very good friend Jill C. paid me an incredibly nice compliment today and it's one I probably don't deserve. Oh Jill, if you could have been a fly on the wall of the Webber house tonight.

Jill sent an e-mail to a close-knit group of our friends, and among other things said this little blog made her want to work less and soak up precious moments with her kids. (I'm paraphrasing this since I, in no way, asked Jill's permission to mention any of this. Hi Jill! Love you! Ha! ) I'm all for every mom realizing how precious and fleeting time is with our chicks, but I don't want anyone to get the idea that we don't have our share of chaos...

Ladies, let me tell you, today was one of those days! The day started off fine. Everyone "slept in," which at our house means 6:45 am for the kiddos. We got Kylene to work a little early, and made it home in time to calmly walk to the bus.

Meredith, changed clothes three times before 10:30, at one point donning a swimming suit. After a firm lecture I thought we were done with the mess that multiple costume changes create. All in all, not a bad morning.

Then the fun began. After the final school pick up of the day, we headed home with a van load of surly people. Alex shouted at Meredith for whatever reason, and in some sort of acrobatic feat Meredith managed to kick Alex in the face in retaliation. (At least that's what he claims, and to be honest I did catch quite a bit of flailing of limbs in my rear view.) Whatever happened resulted in me yelling "NOT ONE MORE WORD UNTIL WE ARE HOME; UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE TO SHARE!"

By the time we pulled into the driveway, Alex was sentenced to spend the night without his beloved blanket "Stripes," and Meredith was going to be without her Belle dress another day. Believe me, I know what buttons to push with these two.

Aside from some petty arguments and a couple of trips to T.O., the rest of the late afternoon wasn't terrible.

I knew I was in trouble when Meredith came to dinner in a blanket sleeper. Me: "Meredith Claire, why are you wearing pajamas?" Meredith: "Because I can't find my black pants. My room's messy." After Meredith noticed the steam coming out of my ears, she quickly said, "Don't wordy, I keen it aww up affer dinner!" Fine. Deal. Let's eat.

Like a fool, I did the dishes without a trip to assess the damage. When I finally did, I suddenly had the urge to go for a run. A long run. Maybe all the way to the border. Meredith has beige carpet, but you wouldn't have been able to tell. There was nary an outfit on a hanger and her huge dresser was nearly empty. I considered getting my camera, but I was afraid you'd think it was staged!

After I chewed out Meredith at full volume and spent the next 45 minutes hanging up clothes, I thought about Jill and her sweet comments (and her IMMACULATELY kept home!). I wondered what she would think if she could see my parenting skills in action now! ?!