Reality Check

Scene:  Thursday morning, 8:05 a.m. (bus comes at 8:12 a.m.) - We're having a less than cooperative morning. Caroline is sitting at the kitchen table, hair a rumpled mess, no shoes on,  totally lacking any sense of urgency.

Mom: "What shoes do you want to wear to school today?" 
Caroline (looking dreamy):  "Glass slippers"     (Yes, she actually said that)
Mom:  "You have gym today."
Caroline:  "Fine.  I guess I'll wear sneakers."

[Mom physically puts shoes on Caroline]

Mom:  "Caroline, we need to comb your hair."
Caroline (dramatic sigh):  "Oh...Mom"
Mom:  "Where is your comb?"
Caroline:  " I don't know"

[Mom gets comb since, fortunately, she tracks the locations of all objects in the house at all times.  By the way, that job is really using up too much capacity of my short-term memory.]

8:10 a.m. Mom starts frantically, but ever-so-gently, combing Caroline's golden tresses.

Caroline:  "Mom, could you give me a princess hair-do today?"
Mom:  "Caroline, you do realize we have less than 2 minutes to get to the bus, right?"
Caroline:  "How about doing two braids on the sides, and then connected in the back into one braid.  With a flower pin on the side."    (And, yes, she actually said that too.)

[Mom thinks:  "Hello, are you living in this reality?  We now have 90 seconds to put on your coat and run to the bus with your 3-year old brother who takes at least 2 minutes to put on his rain boots." Then Mom thought some other edited choice words too.]

Mom actually says:  "No, I don't think we have quite enough time for princess hair today.  Maybe if you had gotten dressed the first 12 times I asked we would have had more time for hair."
Caroline:  "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.  I was busy playing in my room."

8:16 a.m. Mom and Ben are back from the bus.  Abby and Caroline have made the bus, fully dressed and mostly groomed with lunches and snacks, homework, library books, snow clothes and sled for Abby for recess, appropriate forms in folders.  Whew.

School day mornings are not for the faint of heart.  And that was only 11-minutes!  Kids are fun.