Survival

My younger kids go to a wonderful Christian based preschool.  My 5 year old is there daily in the pre-k program and my 3 year old twins go once a week in the 2 1/2 year old class.  (Friday's are MY morning - all of my kids are at school!  This morning I manged a visit to the doctor, a quick trip to Target & Starbucks and still managed to get about 1/2 hour of work done for a client!).

There is a mom I see at the preschool pretty much every day, but I have never spoken to her.  She has twins in the same class as my twins.  She is not very friendly and I would say border line rude.  Drives way, way too fast in the parking lot, has been known to take up two parking spots, never holds the door open, even if you are standing right there, never says hello or even smiles.  I have been seeing this woman on a regular basis since September.  Today I looked at her and got it. She is surviving. She has four beautiful children and she had them within four years.  Her children are clean and put together.  Their hair is always done.  They are always smiling and happy.  Her oldest is about 4, then she has 2 1/2 year old twins and an infant in the carrier.  I was this mom.  Survival mode is very different from regular mom mode.  You are not thinking about yourself or others or getting through the day.  You are thinking about your kids and you are focusing on getting through the next 30 minutes or hour and constantly thinking about everything you need to do, constantly counting heads and making sure you have everything you need to get through those next 30 minutes (backpack, coat, bottles, diapers, etc).  As my kids have gotten older, things have gotten easier. A lot easier.  We have our good days, our not so good days and our BAD, wait until your father gets home days.  I'm sure my sisters will be the first to tell you that I am still a hot mess.  Yes, I do pick up hair ties off the floor of my house and use them to hold my hair back.  But who cares.  My kids are happy & smiling.  My kids are clean (for the most part), they are fed, they are loved.

When I was at Target this morning, I saw a mom struggling to get her kid in the car, her bags in the trunk, while trying to hold the cart. Then she had to take the cart back.  I went up to her and said let me help you, I understand how hard it can be.  The look of relief on her face was thanks enough.  Next week I am going to approach this mom at school, and just say hello, I get it.

I hope you have a wonderful, Blessed weekend.  I will be spending some time in the laundry room as I have had a slight relapse - I have one basket of washcloths to be folded (which I will ask the kids to do), one load in the washer and one load in the dryer!