2 Hours

In my former life, before babies, I set my alarm each day for 2 hours before I needed to head out the door to my classroom. Looking back, I haven't the slightest idea what I did in that 2 hours. I know I got myself dressed and ready, made our bed and packed a lunch, but these days that doesn't seem like much. I guess I did it all at a very slow and leisurely pace, usually while listening to the mornings Focus on the Family radio broadcast. I think this former life included lots of long, hot, quiet showers, and plenty of time for hair and make-up. In hindsight I think I could have sped it up a bit and gotten lots more sleep.

Fast forward to my current life. The first 2 hours of the day are a whirlwind. In 2 hours I shower and get myself dressed. Admittedly it is far too often with unwashed hair in a ponytail and gym clothes. The girls wake up and I get them breakfast. I pack anywhere between 1 to 4 lunches depending on the day's activities. On a good day I unload the dishwasher and get dinner going in the crockpot. When I finish in the kitchen I run upstairs and make all 4 beds. Yes, I know, the girls could (and can) do that themselves, but somehow it is just easier and faster (and prettier if I do it myself. I supervise (Spur along) Addison in the shower and get all 3 girls dressed. Then comes the hair....my girls wake up every day with 3 very serious cases of bed head!!! While Mama sports a ponytail, I am in the bathroom wetting them down and blow drying them each day....otherwise, they would be out and about with something resembling a bird's nest on the backs of their heads. Once we are all dressed, I bundle myself and all the girls up for the walk to Addison's bus stop. We bid her good-bye and 1 hour and 50 minutes later the morning is almost done.




The last 10 minutes of my morning routine, to complete the 2 hours is this! Reagan, Gracyn and I trek back, strip of the coats and head back inside. That is when I tackle this! How do they do this everyday? Not sure they even get toothpaste in their mouths. Tommy always looks at it and says, "They're just baby teeth, can we just stop making them brush them?". Three toothbrushes, two kinds of toothpaste and a big fat mess on the sink, every day.



I sure love my crazy, hectic life! I know someday I will miss that messy sink and I will wish I had kiddos standing outside my shower door asking for orange juice. For know, I just reflect back to my long, leisurely mornings and laugh at myself, wondering what I did with all my time back when I just thought I was busy!