Cherished Moments: Crunch Time

Journal Entry:  December 23, 2012

Another new day and I am super tired.  I was up most of the night making dinner rolls and watching movies with the kids.  I kept plucking along trying to get back on schedule with the "to do" list.  I am so paying for it today.

As a special treat I ran to the SuperAmerica to get an assortment of fresh donuts for breakfast.  I need to have the kids up and ready for their mom to get them at 11am.  Normally I would have the grandchildren all day, but they have a holiday dinner to go to.  I will miss spending time with them, but it also gives me an opportunity  to get caught up on my list.

Never fails, they are up at the crack of down and ready to eat.  Reminds me of a nest of baby birds with their energy.  I peak my eyes open at each of them> they love watching me "wake up".  I run down the stairs chasing them to the kitchen.  Over donuts and juice all we talked about was opening Christmas presents and the dinosaur eggs.

After eating, the kids run to the dinosaur eggs...  Looking at Anthony's face as he notices his egg has hatched is priceless.  Kailey's egg is cracking but hasn't made an appearance of actually hatching yet.  Being he kids that they are, the next stp was:  Grandma can we open one of our presents?  How about, no.  You will be here tomorrow and will be able to open all of them.

Content for the moment, I usher them into the getting ready for the day.  Anthony is just a court jester and not even trying.  Kailey calls him by his nickname, Fat Tony.  He says, "Mom calls me a different name now: Anthony Smith."  I almost choked laughing.  I tell Anthony that is his real name, not a nickname. 

After they left I completed the almost all of the cleaning; all that is left is to dust the lower level and James needs to clean his bathroom.

I rush out the door at 12:30pm to pick up the petfood, grab the reaminder of the groceries, and slide in for a manicure. 

4:45p I am at the house and starting the baking frenzy.  I am starting to get a little agitated as I am not getting any cooperation from the family.  James still hasn't cleaned the bathroom and he still has clothes everywhere.  Mr. Man hasn't showed up to do the little things around the house either.

By 10p I am mad, my hands and feet hurt from cooking, wrapping presents, and no rest.  I finally voice my opinion rather loudly.  I feel like my family is taking advantage of the fact that medication works a little too well.  The fact that I now raised my voice lets them know I reached my breaking point.  I am very proud of myself, because I would have been screaming like a banshee as soon as I first started to get behind.  The medication really is helping me to keep things into prespective.

Mr. Man left the office and immediately started on a few of his tasks and James cleaned his bathroom. James is home on Christmas break and can dust and do the clothing before I even get home from work.

By the time I went to bed, almost the whole meal is prepared for tomorrow.  I pre-cooked the ham and placed it in the refrigerator and put the turkey into the oven to cook over night.  Not only am I caught up on my "to do" list, but am ahead of the game.  The only thing that did not get completed was giving the dog a bath.

A family effort is a team effort and there is no I in Team.  How do you get your family motivated to assist at crunch time?