Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A Typical Tuesday Evening at 7:52 pm


"Tim, Daisy got hold of Leanne's lunch for tomorrow and is eating it in her bedroom. Could you go get it from her?" Tim is perched over a map of the San Gabriel mountains with a highlighter on our bedroom floor plotting his next big 18-mile hike."OK," he says absentmindedly as I walk off towards Julia's room to see if she's still crying in her crib. At this point I encounter Chloe wrapped up in her comforter on the couch. "Please go brush your teeth and take your fluoride, Chloe. It's tme for bed. We've just finished your stories." "But I'm sleepy," she whines. "OK, well go to the bathroom and brush you teeth and then go to bed." "Ohhh..."she whines as I pick her off the couch and set her on her feet.

"I can't find my folder for co-op tomorrow," Elena complains.

"Well you leave your stuff all over the floor all the time. It's not my responsibility to help you look," replies Camille.

"But then we can't go to Madeline and Olivia's to watch American Idol tonight."

"Well I've looked for it and I can't find it. I've already helped you."

"Girls," I interject, "if you don't stop complaining neither of you will go."

"But-"

"No whining!"

"Mom, I haven't had my dessert yet," Leanne informs me.

"OK," I say, "get your dessert."

"But I need help scooping my ice cream into the bowl."

"Where is my folder!? I left it here on this desk yesterday - I think..."

"Why do you always lose your things, Elena?!"

Daisy is crying at this point because I've just gone into her bedroom and noticed that Leanne's gummy things from her lunch are all over the floor. I've reprimanded her for getting into her sister's lunch and have taken most of the gummy things away from her and thrown them out. Didn't we just eat dinner like an hour ago? I don't see Tim anywhere at this point. I think he took the lunchbox to the kitchen already but this package of sticky things escaped his notice, perhaps because Daisy was hiding them from him!
Julia seems to have settled down, however. Chloe is brushing her teeth. Elena and Camille continue to bicker about the lost writing folder.
I'm looking at the clock thinking about the craziness that bedtime is at our house sometimes. I'm dreaming of the hour of quiet that I hope I have after all the kids are in bed or off to their friend's house. It can't come soon enough!

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