The Witching Hour

From the minute I woke up yesterday I was busy. And, to top it off, I had 4 additional children at my house throughout the day.

I woke up with one of those dang caffeine-withdrawal induced headaches. I felt like I was dragging...like I needed a jump start. Well, since we have no diet Coke in the house, this jump start had to come from somewhere else. Around 10am, the jumpstart came. I remembered that my visiting teachers were headed over in about 30 minutes and I had a hot flash as I looked in the front room and saw a HUGE mess and a big 16 year old boy asleep on the couch. This got my blood pumping. I kicked Mark out and proceeded to clean in a crazed hurry.

My visiting teachers are 2 sweet old ladies with wisdom seeping from their pores. One of them always brings me some sort of treat,too. We visited for about 30 minutes. I love talking to women who have been-there, done-that. One of the sisters had 8 children and her husband had passed away when her youngest was very small. She also never re-married and raised some pretty good kids on her own. One of her daughters is a friend of mine and is a wonderful example to me. Their visit was a great start to my day, I felt enriched and cared for. But now it was nearing lunch time, and I was still in my pjs. (Yes, don't judge me).

The rest of my day was full of driving kids here and there, working on yard sale preparation, laundry, sandwich-making, breaking up fights, doing more laundry and not taking a shower. (Yes, please don't judge me). Then the witching hour began...otherwise known as between 5-6pm.

If you ever want to see a crazy lady in action, please stop by unannounced at my house around this time. But, I'm warning you, I won't ever talk to you again. (Hee Hee). NO, seriously, I won't. I was trying to make dinner. I was in the kitchen alone and everyone was preoccupied with something else. While I was browning some beef on the stove, I decided to make a very important phone call. If you happened to read my blog a few days ago, or if you're a mom you'll know that when you're on the phone your kids suddenly need you immediately! I kid you not. I instantly had a 1 year old hanging on my leg whining; my oldest son and his friend decided this would be a good time to ring the door bells (both of them, we have one in front and one in back) at the same time and then run around the house; two of my boys came in the kitchen (probably because they smelled food cooking) and demanded to know what was for dinner and how long it was going to take; all while I was trying to have a grown-up, mature, important conversation on the phone.

I definitely got a good arm workout yesterday as I waved my hands and arms madly in the air in an attempt to get everyone to please leave me alone! All while trying to maintain a calm, sweet, mature voice on the phone. I'm telling you, I must look just ridiculous to my kids, because they never take the arm-waving seriously. I finally had to lock myself in the bathroom (while dinner burned). And yes, I had knocks on the door, but I plopped myself in the bathtub so I could be as far from the door as possible. *sigh*

Thankfully, dinner didn't burn too bad and I did get an important issue squared away on the phone. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful and then I crashed in bed and slept like a baby. But, I learned that maybe I should not try to do anything other than make dinner during the witching hour. I really should have planned better. Oh well...

Friendly Mom Tip #46

If you get up to make a sandwich for one child, it would be wise to ask if anyone else wants one. Otherwise, you may find yourself getting up, getting all the sandwich supplies out, making a sandwich, putting all the stuff away and wiping the counter, 3 additional times. Trust me, I know.

Ahhh...Children

I have been very busy lately. I am preparing for a much needed yard sale and have set the date for August 7th. Yikes! I hope I'm ready. Seriously, with the kids, the house, preparing meals, a bout with the stomach flu for 5 of the 6 children, Pioneer Day festivities, dropping off/picking up the big kids from various activities, working on the yard, and all the other tasks that mothers do, I am finding it hard to get all of this yard sale preparation done. I am now down to less than 2 weeks to get ready and I still have part of the kitchen, the front room, the entire basement, AND the garage to go through. And, you know what? I haven't even procrastinated. I set myself a 4 week schedule (after a couple months of procrastination), but it has been extremely difficult to stick with it! I'm done with the tv room, the mudroom, the boys' room, and part of the kitchen. Just thinking about it makes me exhausted!

Which brings me to my topic...I have been so busy, that I've tried to sneak in some time to REST. Doesn't seem so difficult, does it? Well, guess again. My kids will be busy doing X, Y, or Z, completely oblivious to me and the stuff I'm trying to do, UNTIL I sit down, put my feet up and look comfortable. Then wham-o, all of the sudden they need something from me!

And, they also seem to NOT NOTICE my existence until I'm on the phone. Then ALL of them need something that only I can provide (in their opinion). And forget about going to the bathroom in peace. I get typically 2-6 knocks on the door everytime. Pretty soon I'll be like Pavlov's dogs and may involuntarily pee when I hear knocking.

So, I have deduced that the best way to get my children's attention is to A) get comfortable, B) get on the phone or C) go to the bathroom.