Endurance Test

This week the birds seem to be waking my children. Just in time for school to let out when we'd be happy for them to sleep in. They are normally the kind of kids that sleep in till 7AM. The new trend here is a 5 - 5:30 AM wake-up holler from Bailey at which point one of his exhausted parents makes their way to his room. We've broken the cardinal rule of parenthood by bringing him into our bed. Many children cuddle up and sleep but Bailey beats us until one of us realizes that we'll both be hospitalized unless the child is removed from the bed and entertained. He is in stark contrast to Jacqueline who could cuddle and go back to sleep in similar circumstances.

So today at 6AM I found myself wiping the sleep out of my eyes with Bailey in the family room. He was content to watch some Playhouse Disney. Great. Not 10 minutes later, Jacqueline appeared in the kitchen. This is a child who missed the bus as often as she made the bus because she couldn't get up and/or get moving. OK. So we're up and we so don't need to be. This is summer vacation - no bus to make. I have a sneaking suspicion that the week camp starts at 8AM the sleep pattern may revert back to 'school year sleepy'.

Before 9AM I have washed and hung a load of laundry, painted a frame, done a sink full of dishes and had my coffee. Yes, I typed "hung" in that sentence about laundry. The dryer here doesn't heat anymore. Since it's older than I am, we'd rather not spend any money repairing it as we'll soon be moving out. So this is a bit like Little House on the Prairie lately with hand-washing the dishes and now hanging the laundry. Add in the built in mayhem that surrounds buying a house and moving and all the details that add up to a full-time job and the kids are already on each other's last nerve before breakfast. Yes, this qualifies as an endurance test.
I see Tension Tamer Plus tea in my future, sometime before 11AM when I wrap up the caffeine intake. And, the saving grace(s): a party for Jacqueline to attend mid-day, hopefully while Bubba naps, and a planned wine & snacks date with a girlfriend this evening. Right here in Walnut Grove, while the kids run around the yard and do whatever it is that they need to do while their mothers RELAX. Hey, where is my Frankie Goes to Hollywood shirt anyway??