Shout Out to the Tribe

This is how this morning went….

Wait. Let’s back up.  I am not a morning person.  Not by any stretch.  So every night before bed, I am doubling checking backpacks, the boys are getting snacks packed, and lunch boxes packed, and “helping” to get their uniforms laid out.  I don’t do this out of fear of over sleeping because no on in the house wants to sleep past dawn, but me.  I do it because I really can’t function until I have had my coffee and even with getting up 90 minutes before we leave for school, I usually don’t have my coffee until we are driving to school.  I am often doing the coffee mug wave down the driveway to carpool line.  So with that said, I like to prepare.

I bring you to Tuesday.

LT has been going thru some real growing pains.  As a result, we are all going thru them.  He likes to be the first to finish breakfast, brush his teeth, get his uniform on, get his jacket on, get in the car FIRST.  I admire this quality, but for the fact that 1) very little is done on his part to be first, 2) in life one cannot always be first, so recognize little buddy, 3) he will purposely sabotage his brother to be first.

L2 is an early riser, but he doesn’t want to be pushed.  EVER.  On the rare occasion he does “sleep-in,” the only way to rally him is keep reminding him we will be late, and he moves.  At a snails pace, but he moves.

It used to be a rare occasion that they would cross each other in the morning.  Now it’s daily. Each morning, I send them off to a bathroom larger than the bathroom my seven member family had growing up to brush their teeth with this disclaimer, “do not talk to each, do not touch each other, just brush.”  You would think with the amount of time spent “brushing their teeth” the dental hygiene would be on point, but I see the bills.  My disclaimer fell on deaf ears.

Within two minutes, L2 comes out crying.  LT follows crying, “Don’t tell. I didn’t mean it.”  As they walk to find me, I think, ‘Hmmm.  was their hitting? the daily hiding of toothpaste? throwing a toothbrush on the floor? stealing a stool?’  Nope.  None of that.  That would have been a cake walk.  That would have been a regular Tuesday.  Instead, they arrived to the kitchen with one child sobbing, and the other with their hair covered in toothpaste.  YES.  You read it.  Covered. I was fuming.  FOR SO MANY REASONS.  The first, not even being the obvious fact that L2 had toothpaste in his hair.   The first, I HAD NOT HAD ANY COFFEE.  Please see paragraph two.  All that prep work wasted, and few brain cells actually working.  VERY FEW.  Fuming because 8 has been a son of b***ch to my LT.  He is just tormented and confused about everything.  Fuming because it’s now 7:47 and we got to roll in a hot minute.  Finally fuming because L2 has toothpaste all over his head.  Because seven minutes before leaving for school, the very thing I thought we should do with that time was take a shower.  Yea, we made it.  We busted booty and L2 was team player, and we got in the car, and I had my coffee and I said our daily thanks to God for all those we love and go to school with, and put my eyes towards the sunroof and thought, ‘it’s the best I can do today God.’

I drove.  I sat with smoke coming out of my ears while my children sat in the backseat and laughed and joked and acted as though nothing happened just seven minutes ago to push their mother to the brink.  I fumed.

We got on the long driveway at school, and LT says, “I don’t know if I am going to get out of the car.  I don’t know if I want to go to school today.” [Please note, this is 8.  This is the torment.] I sat in the front seat of the car.  I breathed deep.  I looked to the sunroof again silently asking God to grant me the grace to make it the last half mile to carpool, as to not embarrass my entire family for the behavior I really wanted to exhibit.  I was white knuckling the steering wheel.  I kept thinking, get them out first, than pull over and text the tribe.  That’s exactly what I did.

I led with my need for immediate comic relief by texting the picture and quick recap to my older brother, Josh and my bff Annie.  I knew they both would make some quick witted, in Josh’s case, off the cuff joke.  He came thru with “Having they been watching Something About Mary?”

I texted (and, gasp, even called ) some more of the tribe.  Moms I admire, moms I love, moms I have great respect for, moms that I know have been in these shoes, moms I know that are wearing these shoes.  Turns out, I wasn’t the only one having a really exceptional start to the day.  Ahhh. My tribe.

I know you seasoned mommas are rolling.  Just rolling.  And you mommas in the thick of it this is for you.  Find your tribe.  Lean on your tribe.  Never for a second lose your parenting sense of humor because after the fuming stopped, I laughed so hard.  So, so hard.  I think it was easier knowing I am not alone in this crazy journey of motherhood.

For you moms of eight year old boys – this Bud’s for you.  For Mrs. Johns, I have the greatest respect in the world for you because ain’t no body got time for this and you a spend all day with this kiddo.

Keep on, keepin’ on Mommas –

xo

AT

I love them.  They exhaust me, but I love them.