School started a few weeks ago, and were still trying to get back into the swing of things. I dont know about you, but its been tough. Are you back in the routine yet? Our morning routine is pretty standard. The Hubs wakes up early to get the kids ready for the day. At 7:30 am, he starts out by yelling -- I mean, gently wakes up the kids. Every morning I hear Adolpha, get down here and get dressed and Gomer Get dressed and brush your teeth. Some days there is more yelling than others. This morning was one of those mornings. Both kids woke up grumpy and sluggish and there was more than the normal drama to deal with. Gomer had lost a shoe and Adolpha was refusing to brush her teeth. I had had it. I was trying to make lunches when I found Adolphas take home folder on the counter, buried under some junk mail. It was stuffed with papers that she had not shown me. I was so irritated. She doesnt have many jobs, but she is supposed to empty her folder each night and show me whats been sent home so I dont miss anything important. I flung open the folder and started slamming papers on the counter, saying, Adolpha, you know youre supposed to empty your folder! Why cant you do what you are supposed to? I forgot, she whined. You dont forget to do your jobs at school. Why do you do forget them at home? I asked, continuing to fling the papers around. Worksheets, field trip notices, and spelling tests went flying. Before I knew it, Gomers lip was quivering. I turned on him, And whats your problem? Why are you crying? Because youre yelling at Adolpha, he said, tears welling up in his eyes. Both kids started to cry. Really? I thought. I should be the one crying. I am running around trying to do everything for the two of you because you cant get your act together. Who loses a shoe after walking in the front door? Who cries because brushing their teeth is sooooo hard? Who takes ten minutes to decide if they want a ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwich in their lunchbox? Oh please, Gomer, just stop. I cant even listen to you right now. As I responded to him, I continued to empty Adolphas folder. Both of you stop crying and go find Gomers shoe! I glanced down at the sheet of paper in my hand and I could see it was a letter from Adolphas teacher stuck in her folder. I knew Id miss something important! I thought angrily. A letter from the teacher! Who knew when she sent that thing home? The letter stopped me in my tracks. I read it again. And then one more time. LETTER POSTED AT BOTTOM OF THIS STORY Crap, I thought. I suck at being a mother. Normally, I dont have mommy guilt, but that morning I felt like a terrible mother. I was yelling at my kids because they couldnt find a damn shoe. I was slapping together sandwiches because I was pissed that once again the school was selling a disgusting lunch that no one wanted to buy. It was like Mrs. K knew what our morning was going to be like. How did she know that the letter was exactly what I needed to read right at that moment? I dont know, but I was glad she did. I was about to call the kids over to apologize to them when the Hubs flew into the kitchen in a rage. He had heard the yelling, the whining and the crying and he was ready to crack skulls (figuratively of course!). Whats the hold up? Whats the whining all about now? Are you guys ready to get in the car? Lets go! Were going to be late! the Hubs yelled. I grabbed his arm. Before you say anything else, you need to read this. I handed him the letter from Mrs. K. I watched his face as he read it. He came to the same realization as me. We were terrible. What ... he trailed off, looking up from the paper. The kids had stopped looking for the shoe and were now watching us carefully. Were awful, I whispered to the Hubs. I know, we are, he said. I cant find my shoe! Gomer whined. I cant find my reading log! Adolpha cried. What do we do now? the Hubs asked. I want to say that we held our kids tight and gave them a huge family hug, but thats not what happened. That letter might have softened my cold, black heart, but I didnt grab a guitar and start singing Kumbaya and telling stories about rainbows and unicorns. Instead we both took deep breaths and helped our kids find what they needed to find and went on with our morning. It just wasnt as hectic as it had been. I wanted to send a note to Mrs. K and tell her how much I appreciated her letter. I wanted to tell her that Im not a perfect mom and the Hubs is no super dad. We try our best, but sometimes we need a stiff kick in the ass to put us back on track. I was going to thank her for being that much needed kick in the ass, but I got sidetracked before I could do it, because Im still trying to find Adolphas reading log.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 02:36:06 +0000
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