Could Not Ask for More....

When you have small kids everything is simplified. For example instead of saying we have X number of days until Santa arrives, we replace days with sleeps. The reds understand that in 9 more sleeps they will wake up and hopefully Santa will have brought them what they asked for. The one challenge I have is trying to get the reds to fully understand how fortunate they are, especially during these very harsh economic times.

Last Friday I took the oldest red to get some new jammies. As I drove up to the store I noticed all the uniformed men and women standing outside the doors and realized they were holding a Toy for Tots drive. What a perfect opportunity to try and teach a very important lesson about giving to others!!! As we walked up, the oldest red asked why they were all standing around with candy canes and in costumes. I explained to him that they were in their work uniforms and are collecting toys for boys and girls that might not get any for Christmas. Just then I thought...what if he asks me why Santa won't bring them toys...thankfully he didn't because I didn't have a prepared response for that.

We headed to the toy section, which thankfully had an entire aisle of toys priced just right. The first toy spotted was a train set (of course). The next toy we got was an overstuffed floppy teddy bear that was the perfect size for night time snuggles. We purchased our items and the oldest red insisted on being the one to put the toys in the bin. He proudly walked out the doors and dropped them in the bin. His reward was a candy cane. My reward was far greater than that. The lesson itself stuck with him and I know this because just yesterday he asked me if I knew the names of the kids that would get the toys we bought for them. That moment reminded me of a few lines from one of my favorite songs.....

And these are the moments,

I thank God that I'm alive.

And these are the moments,

I'll remember all my life.

I've found all I've Waited for,

And I could not ask for more.

Merry Christmas!

xoxo

Me

60 Minutes

This morning we needed to leave the house by 7:45am so that I could fill up the non-environmentally friendly Pilot, drop the littlest red off at daycare and take the oldest red to school. Friday's I work in the classroom so I try to get in at least 2 cups of coffee to make it through the day. Well this morning I had exactly 1 hour (because we woke up LATE) to do the following:

• Shower, dry hair, flat iron hair, throw on some mineral powder and mascara, brush teeth and get dressed.
• Feed the reds breakfast.
• Get the reds dressed which is no easy task when the youngest red refusses to do anything by himself and mama doesn't have time to waste.
• Brush the reds teeth and hair.
• Demand that they both use the bathroom before we leave the house (don't ask).
• Make the oldest reds lunch.
• Check on one of the household cats that scratched his eye last night and made it bleed...like I have time to deal with feline issues.
• Make sure homework was finished and fill out the reading log because I forgot to last night.
• Find the lost coat of the littlest red.
• Find the reading log of another boy in the oldest reds class that was accidently sent home to our house.
• Make coffee so that I can function with a class of wild 5 year olds that eat pencils and other things they shouldn't eat (use your imagination).
• Grab something to eat for Me.
• Deal with at least one meltdown by the youngest red (happens every morning so we just add it to the routine).

Well we got out of the house at exactly 7:45am but a very cruicial to do list item was sacrificed. Yep, you guessed it...the COFFEE. I wanted my coffee so bad but there just wasn't time. I figured since I have to stop by the gas station, I can grab a cup there. HUGE mistake. I opted for the french vanilla premade coffee that comes out of that machine. You know what I'm referring to. The one that says, Only fill 3/4 of the cup. Yeah that one. I also didn't have time to eat so I thought I would grab a round maple doughnut. Sugar upon sugar. The coffee was so sweet that one sip was enough to throw it out. Oh and that doughnut was filled with custard. Now why would someone go and ruin a perfectly good thing by filling it with custard???? They need warning signs for that. A tired mom that hasn't had any coffee doesn't want to bit into what is supposed to be a yummy thing and find this disgusting surprise. It's not right.

So I'm giving myself a Kudos for getting out of the house on time, even though I didn't take care of my cruicial needs. And my words of advice, skip the premade crappy coffee and stick to the old fashion doughnuts or your old friend Hostess.

xoxo

Me