My mother brains are fried, and I have homework too

(From my original Blogspot)

I don't need to do drugs to fry my brain! I just need to have four kids talk to me at the same time, and really want my attention desperately! The problem is, I want to give it to them. If I didn't care, it wouldn't be so hard. All evening, I've felt like my brains were in a frying pan!

Afternoons can be somewhat relaxed with the three boys in school, but it all hits the fan the minute they get home....like some kind of bomb exploding. This afternoon, after school, I took B. and his friend to the store to do some Christmas shopping. I left S. with P. and A. Before shopping, I just needed to do a little five minute banking errand, which ended up taking a whole hour! (Those poor patient boys in the back seat!) So by the time we shopped and got home, the other three kids had been positively "neglected" for a couple of hours. All of them needed/wanted me! And.....everyone was starving, and I had absolutely no idea of what to cook. (At times like this, I would like a "mother" to serve dinner to us all.....the only problem is, I am the mother.) P. announced that he needed to have a rough draft written tonight (which usually means a lot of coddling help from myself). B. was waiting for me to find a particular DVD that I had promised him and his friend.....low and behold it was left at Grandma's house. A. had so many amusing things that he had to tell me right now. S. was super sad because A. had said something that hurt her feelings, and she clung to me.

Amid a din of noise, I numbly put on some Ramen Noodles for dinner, which half of the kids refused to eat because they were too slimy. No sympathy from me! I said, "don't even tell me about how you feel about dinner....eat it or don't eat it, but don't talk about it!"

J., between work and play rehearsal, popped by with the DVD from Grandma's, and I got everyone going on homework before I ran to a baby shower, taking S. with me. On the way there, I noticed that her cough had suddenly become incessant....and she was coming with me to visit a brand-new baby. Oh the stress! New mommies don't "do" coughing toddlers hacking near their perfect first child! I didn't anyway. When I had my first baby, everyone who came anywhere within yards of my perfect angel were suspect. And now, I was taking a coughing child complete with jam smashed into her shirt, to go visit a new baby. When I got there, I was "thrilled" to see that two other mothers had brought their fairly new babies to show off at the shower. There were three babies here now. They were like the land mines that I needed to avoid because I had a cougher with me. Not feeling exactly relaxed and sociable, I put on my game-face: sat S. in a remote corner with a cup of water, washed my hands for all to see, paid homage to the new infant, participated in a conversation about how you can never have too many bottles (they are all dirty right when you need one), talked about how quickly they grow and what a miracle it all is, made eye contact with most of the guests, and excused myself (after a piece of cheesecake, of course).

Back at home, I was less than relaxed and mothering. I managed an distracted "uh-uh" while B. told me about the latest installment on the military channel. I sent A. to bed, but he had to show me a funny comic first. I hope I smiled at him, but I don't remember doing it. I put S. in bed listening to a CD. No stories tonight, and definitely no laying together (she pointed out yesterday how I don't lay by her very much....she doesn't like that). I told P. to be independent and finish that 'ol rough draft himself, then headed into my room to look at that homework that is due tomorrow that has still hardly gotten a glance from me this week.

So here I am, putting off that paper for just a few minutes longer, hoping that all of my fried brains can somehow produce any kind of academic "excellence" for my own homework assignment.