There is a mad scramble around here every morning at 7:50 to 8:10, despite our best intentions to keep things organized.

Neighbor kids are walking in and out of the house.
Doors are left open letting cold air waft through the hallways.
Straggling hair needs doing.
Lucy is screaming for milk or crying for help to find her “guys” (figurines).
Grace is sticking her homework reading log in front of my nose to be signed.
Claire is needing her shoes to be tied.
The girls are scrambling to do their breakfast jobs so they can head out with the bike brigade to school.
The phone is ringing off the hook.
Someone has spilled something.
The lunches are half way put together strewn across the counter.
And sometimes, in the middle of it all, Lucy’s bus comes early.
And we all head outside to wave goodbye to her from her window…me and the bike brigade.
She yells “I love you” to the whole crowd, and the bus pulls out.
Off go the bikes waving goodbye on their way down the street.
I walk back inside, close the doors and catch my breath.
The house is SILENT.
So quiet I could hear a pin drop.
And although right now it feels so good to be left with nothing but the remnants of syrup still clinging to the counter after a weak attempt of one of the girls to wipe it down, and a few random dishes that didn’t get stuck in the dishwasher to keep me company, I still know I’ll miss all that chaos some day.
Until then, I’m off to my race to finish my list of “to-do’s” for the day: grocery store, bank, Primary meetings, laundry, cleaning, phone call returns… before that bus pulls up at our house again in a couple hours and drops off my girl full of excitement from a morning well spent learning new things.

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13 Comments

  1. Oh my, I know what you mean! Amazing how it can go from very loud and full of energy to so quiet you can hear your own heartbeat in a matter of seconds.

    I LOVE YOUR BLOG TOO! Never stop blogging. 😀

    (finished reading through your book last night – it's my new favorite "parenting book." I love how you've compiled the best parts of all your parents' books into one and also added a bunch more wisdom and tricks of the trade)

  2. My son heads off to half day kindergarten next year and I am not quite ready but you made me kind of excited for the morning energy that comes with having a little one that has to be somewhere!

    I too, LOVE your blog!

  3. Wow! I get exhausted just reading that post! 🙂 Chaos … we gotta love it now because I am sure there will come a day when we are missing all that craziness! You capture "life" so well when you write. What a gift you have! Hope to see you real soon!

  4. I read that and it just made me happy. I grew up in a family of 8 kids, the first 7 being born within 8 years, no twins. And as I am working on a family of my own I have to say that I like the chaos! Not always in the moment but, I truly would not have it any other way.

    I've loved looking over your blog. Its awesome

    ~Serene

    Visiting from MMB

  5. Beautiful, Shawni.

    You have rapidly climbed into my favorite timespot of each night.

    I love how your write. And I adore that you put into words those things that I, too, am trying to cherish every day of this life.

    God Bless.
    Karin

    P.S. Add to that Mom yelling at the kids to get their booties in the car before they're tardy, and you've got our family equally pegged.

    🙂

  6. It seems like there is never enough time in the morning for me either…someone is always running out the door for the bus…well, most likely a girl who spend WAY too much time on her hair.
    Love this perspective though!

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