My morning

I suppose you're wondering why I'm sitting here with a glass of wine at 9:00 am! Okay, it's really only coffee but it SHOULD be wine!

And let me make this clear from the get-go, I was a good Mom. I was able to take care of my kids, make them dinner, get them ready for school, etc., and fit it all comfortably in to a fairly hectic life.

Grandkids - now that's another story. My son-in-law called me a few weeks back and asked if I could possibly pick the kids up today because he had a conference in San Francisco, and Jenni works until 3:30pm. It's early release day (a new thing in California because of budget issues) and the kids get out at 1:15 instead of 2:35. I agreed since I didn't have anything scheduled for this afternoon. And then I decided to be a really good Babushka and offer to keep them Tuesday night and take them to school the next day, too, so he didn't need to stress about that. Of course, he agreed.

Vika and Eamon were dropped off around 5:30. This is when I learned that Vika gets out at 1:15pm today, but Eamon doesn't get out until 2:15 because of a reading class that he attends. Two trips to the school. Now, mind you, Ed and I had just spent 4 hours with the installation man from AT&T U-Verse. By the time the kids arrived, the place was a mess with extra tivo and DirectTV boxes everywhere along with vast quantities of cables and cords that we no longer needed. Ed was in total clean-up mode, and try-out-the-new-toy mode. I started working on dinner. Fire was going, Christmas lights were on - a very nice, cozy evening. Since the kids have a 7:30 bedtime, we needed to get the chicken on the grill so we could have dinner. Ed managed to get that done - but he set the timer for a few minutes too long so he'd have more time to clean up and play with U-Verse. (He'll probably deny that) Watching the kids saw through the slightly dry meat was amusing (for us, anyway) but Vika did manage to eat twice as much as I did. Then it was bedtime.

Bedtime with these two is never smooth. But usually they're here on a weekend so if they get to sleep late, no big deal. This, however, was a friggin' school night and I could feel my daughter watching. Got them to bed with a stern (although apparently not stern enough) warning - no talking, fighting, getting up, or anything. Kissed both of them, closed the door, went into the kitchen, only to find Eamon right behind me. I forgot his cold sore medicine. We solved that one, then Vike got up and said she needed some chapstick. Done. Now, back to bed. By the time Ed and I decided to head to bed to read around 9pm, I could hear the kids talking. Then Vika said Eamon was talking and wouldn't let her get to sleep. Eamon said Vika was being mean to him. Blah, blah, blah. So Eamon slept on the couch and all was finally quiet.

Then came this morning. Jenni said they usually get up at 7am which is good for me. I got up at 6:45, started the coffee, opened the curtains, and kissed the kids good morning. Oh, by this time Vika had gone into the living and was curled up on a recliner. She informed me that she went in there at 6:26. I got them up and told them to brush their teeth and get dressed while I made breakfast. Eamon's request was eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy. Wrong. Vika wanted pancakes or waffles. Wrong again. I told them I was making scrambled eggs and some cranberry/orange muffins. A little eye-rolling but not too bad. They went off to get ready.

I started making the muffins, and turned on the news. The kids immediately broke into a chorus of "We want to watch cartoons." I ignored them. Tried to work the new remote but had some trouble. Tried one of the other rooms, still trouble. Finally, after wasting precious time on remotes I got back to the muffins but I was off schedule. They would be done at 7:35 instead of 7:30. PROMPTLY at 7:30, Vika said, "Where's breakfast?" I told her it would be in about 5 minutes. Then she said, "But we have to leave for school in 5 minutes!" No, you don't. We have until 8am. More eye rolling.

The eggs had just hit the pan when Eamon says, "Babushka, we need a lunch and a snack!" WHAT?!?!? I didn't know about that. Vika said they could buy lunch and when I asked her how much they needed, she said $15-$20! Had a feeling that wasn't right so I called Jenni who hung up on me the first time trying to connect her speakerphone, but she finally got through and said lunch was $2.50. And only Eamon needed a snack because he was staying longer. The eggs were starting to overcook so I slapped them on a dish with a muffin, poured some orange juice and set the kids down. Then went off to find the money for their lunch and to pack Eamon a snack. I also took this opportunity to put on my shoes and get ready to bolt. Never did have a chance to have a cup of coffee.

Finally they were done eating so I dumped all the dishes in the sink and we headed out the door. I was still in my sweats, had not yet taken my shower, no makeup, hair looking pretty pathetic. I NEVER leave the house like this so my mantra the whole trip was to not get pulled over for anything or have an accident. When we got to school I got in the "drop off" line. Vika informed me that they were now late and only had 10 minutes to play instead of their usual 20. Big Whoop! She also tried to tell me that she knew a quicker way for me to get to their school and a faster way for me to drop them off. Way too confusing so I just stayed in the mini-van line. When I got to the curb, I stopped the car - apparently not in the right spot. The kids shouted "No, no, pull up" and at the curb was a 4th grader with an orange vest telling me where to stop so the kids could get out. But the kids couldn't get out. "Babushka, you have to unlock the doors!!" AAACCCCKKKK! Where is the dang unlock button ?!? Finally found it, the 4th grader (after completing her eye rolling) opened the door for the kids and off they went.

I drove home quickly, but safely. Soaked up the quiet when I walked in the door. And grabbed that cup of coffee that really should be wine.