Y’all, it has been A Morning, and, for the record, as I start writing this it is currently just 9:34 a.m.! So why so frantic considering so little of the day has gone by? Well, we’re smack dab in the middle of a BIG week and today of all days, HD decided to get himself up but let everyone else keep sleeping, so from the time we realized this (about 20 minutes later than we should have, but c’mon – those of you with little Littles know just how precious/valuable/vital 20 minutes can be, especially in the mornings!), we were scrambling.

It also happened to be the kids’ second day of Walk to School and Lincoln’s second day of swimming lessons, so, enter: CHAOS.

For Walking Days (where we meet up with a 100 or so other Longfellow kids and walk to the school from the museum) we have to be out the door a solid 25 minutes earlier than normal. So if you are math-y (ha! not me!), I’m pretty sure that means we lost 45 minutes of prep time today, so no wonder we were a little frantic and frazzled! When you add in the fact that LT lost his ever-loving mind about having to put his swim trunks on, and then stood there in the kitchen for another solid 12 minutes refusing to put his arms in his sleeves so he could put on his coat and then his shoes, well, yeah – F.U.N. for all!

Best part? When he finally decided to cooperate, which was a good 4 minutes after we should have been OUT the door, I couldn’t find one of his shoes (because of course he refused to wear the pair that had two available shoes, ready to go). Bless the Bigs’ hearts – while I blanketed the toddler in the stroller, they went back in the house and magically found the MIA shoe AND got it on his foot so we could in fact finally rush out the door.

Friends, I thought I was going to send myself into labor trying to get the kids to their walking spot on time. Cardio, beyond basic motherhood and having a toddler, has not exactly been a part of my routine, so trying to walk super fast on streets we don’t normally walk (that have way more traffic) while keeping up with not-wanting-to-be-late school-agers and a still-dragging-his-feet preschooler (while pushing the stroller-contained toddler) was sweat inducing.

But, we made it. And the kids got their signs, and I got to walk behind HD and his buddies (last time I walked with Raegge) all the way to school before then hurrying home so we could load up the still-mad-about-swimming Lincoln to get him to preK (late, because, such was our morning). And then it was off to the grocery store with Truman, because, food, but going to Walmart was actually the easiest part of my day thus far, and that is saying something!

Why record all this? Because this is life right now. One frantic part to the next, and it is worth nothing that as crazy as it was today, no one (besides the aforementioned 4yo) lost their shit this morning. Not even me! Although, truth? It’s possible the youngest two learned their first 4-letter word as I definitely didn’t filter a couple of the shit!s that came out with my deep exhales in the middle of shoe searching/trying to get everyone everywhere on time.

And so it goes. We are going to have shit moments and we are going to have shit mornings. I’m working to check my anger and my privilege, because if the worst thing I have to stress me out right now is the clock and some effing swim trunks, then I think we are pretty darn fortunate in the face of all the other struggles and hardships and hurts out there. In fact, our radar blip today is nothing compared to the large picture, and stepping back to remember that from time to time is important.

Our experiences? Our emotions and reactions? They still matter. But I’m trying not to get so stuck in them as often because they pass, sometimes rather quickly, and to be aware of that is a good thing. The more we can sit (or keep running around like our hair is on fire because who has time to sit?!) with the hot discomforts that bubble up inside rather than shove them back down, the more we do to improve how we interact with and treat others and the ripple effect of that? The world needs it….

…even if we still let whispered 4-letter words come out as part of our steam-release.