Thursday, September 1, 2011

There Is Always Tomorrow

Simple BPM

It started at 4 am, when Emily came running into the room screaming because she had wet the bed.  I consoled her, changed her, and placed her in bed next to me.

When we all woke up for the day at 7, things seemed to moving along as normal.  A rush of getting the kids fed, Ben's lunch made, and starting in on the morning chores.

But by 9, my sweet baby had dumped his cereal all over the floor; stuffed the toilet with towels, toothbrushes, and other items; and torn apart my carefully organized cupboards.

While cleaning one mess, he would run into another room to make another one.

His sister was not innocently standing by.

The beautifully cleaned, vacuumed, and dusted living room was quickly torn asunder as my angelic daughter threw the cushions off the couch, spread the clean and folded clothes all over the floor, dumped her orange juice over the coffee table and floor--twice--and screamed for various snacks.

As I surveyed the damage, Ben called to ask that I mail the rent check.  To do this, I had to buy stamps and envelopes and be back before the mail man came.  I stepped over the messes, dressed the kids, and packed them in the car only to drive by the mailman on the way out.  I continued on my journey, located stamps, and set out to find a mail box (I wasn't sure where the post office was).  I also had to buy new toothbrushes as Andrew had made ours unusable.

When we arrived home, the kids continued on in their wave of destruction.  Cheerios thrown out of bowls, crackers crushed into the carpet, the clothes in drawers littering every room.

At 11, I typed a tired message to my husband relaying the mornings events. He came home for lunch and left even more exhausted as the kids continued melting down.

Functioning, at this point, was beyond impossible.  I put Andrew down for his nap. Since Emily's sheets were still not washed, I had to put her in my bed and lay down with her (rather than making some headway on the chaos surrounding me).

By the end of the day (after our house had virtually imploded), I was close to a breakdown.  We started in on our nighttime routine.  Once I bathed the kids, I locked them in Emily's room with me and read stories.

One story after the next.  As I read, Emily enacted each nursery rhyme and Andrew ran after her, attempting to copy her movements.  I watched them.  In moments, joy replaced frustration, a smile the frown.  The wrinkles in my brow relaxed as I sat laughing.  Soon we were all dancing and singing.  The days events a mere memory.

I put them in bed, giving extra squeezes in return for sweet toddler kisses.

I started in on the messes, completely rejuvenated by that half hour of fun.

There is always tomorrow, the voice whispered.

"I know.  I am ready."

18 comments:

  1. How quickly a crazy day can be turned into a perfect day :) Those moments are so vital to our survival, aren't they?! And thank goodness for the voice...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I gave up "beautifully cleaned, vacuumed, and dusted" anything when #2 came along, shortly after #1. I admire your commitment to that particular sort of order, in the face of the perpetual disorder that goes hand in hand with parenting little ones.

    As for those meltdowns? They will pass. (Promise.) They just take the time they take...

    Meanwhile, coffee, coffee, coffee... which for some of us, has a soothing effect rather than jarring. Oh, yes, and patience - from whatever source may provide it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, the days filled with rush and bother! The constant mess and exhaustion. Sigh.

    But the moments of pure joy and love, oh if we can only stop to see them they make it all ok.

    ReplyDelete
  4. PS: LOVE the new look! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. So sweet, Amber!

    And wow, what a heck of a day! :-P

    ReplyDelete
  6. The days like this one -- they run through the reserve of patience pretty quickly, yes? ;) There is a wonderful lesson here amid the chaotic turn of events: that you just kept plugging away, smiling as best as you could, loving despite the frustration. Tomorrow is indeed there; I love that you're ready to embrace it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dusted? Wow, I can't really remember the last time I dusted. And you can't really tell either. My theory is that the air around here is never still enough for the dust to settle. Except on the ceiling fan, which I really must get around to dusting soon.
    Good for you persevering through the day. I tend to have the opposite sort of day. Breakfast goes decently, we pick up toys and wash dishes, sometimes I get a chance to write for a little bit while the kids play. We might make cookies, or paint our sidewalk. We have lunch, read some books, clean some more. And somehow by the time my husband gets home, the house is destroyed, Dinner isn't ready, the kids are filthy, and I have retreated into my computer with some chocolate, every fiber in me wanting it to be bedtime already. :^/

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you, Lenae! Yes, the reserves of patience were used within, oh, a few seconds. I can't admit to much smiling until right before bedtime, but I did plug through! Hooray! : )

    ReplyDelete
  9. I know exactly what you are saying! That is how I felt yesterday. Oh how I wanted to put the kidseah to bed at 5:30. Sometimes it is nights/days like these that make me sad to have Ben in med school and unavailable at night, but then I remember that I am strong and can make it through! I mean, I'm 24 the kids are 3 and 2, surely I can do this! Right?

    Yeah, sometimes that works. : )

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh yes, and such a wonderful way to end a difficult day! good for you!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love your ending. Another day is coming....could be better, could be just the same! I love that you answer, I am ready!

    ReplyDelete
  12. A little singing and dancing can turn a day around in a milli-second. And there's always tomorrow... :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a lovely reminder that one sweet moment can turn an entire day in a different direction. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh, my goodness, I am tired reading this and I have a 4yr old and 6yr old! It definitely gets better! But I do miss those sweet toddler days, and have often wished to be able to experience them again.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Steph @ Diapers and DivinitySeptember 1, 2011 at 4:24 PM

    Thank goodness for tomorrows. Seriously.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love the ending and the sweetness of it.
    BTW, love the interchangeable headers that accompany each of your posts. Absolutely lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh the days like that -- where the house really does seem like it's going to implode from the talents of small hands -- they are such hard days. And I know those moments at the end of the day, too, where it makes your heart grateful for everything that those little lives bring to your heart, your home. Lovely BPM!

    ReplyDelete
  18. That right there is motherhood in a nutshell!!! Exhausting!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are disabled.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.