morning

Getting ready in the mornings is ALWAYS an adventure with 6 girls living in one house. We have a routine....for the most part, but then add in emotional, dramatic girls, and you just never know what you are going to get! The routine is supposed to pretty much go as follows in the summer:

• I get up and get in the shower


• When I get out of the shower, usually one or more girl has gotten up


• I wake all of the girls up and tell them to get breakfast (When I say "I", I might mean me OR I might mean Autumn, so remember that when you are reading this.)
  
• They get cereal or toast or whatever for breakfast
• They clean up from breakfast then get their clothes on
• Brush teeth
• Do their assigned chores (while they are doing this I get ready)
• I call for hair--if you aren't in the "beauty shop" by the time I am done with the other sister's hair, too bad for you........you go messy Jessie the rest of the day
• IF you get things done, you can watch tv. Oh, and you get paid for your chore ($0.25)
• Get shoes...........head out the door.

Simple routine right? Not so hard right? Well, some mornings it is more like this (remember that "I" means Autumn or me):

• I get up, get in the shower.
• When I get out of the shower, more than one girl is up and I know this because I hear bickering.......pause to go resolve the fight
• The girls are up because they hear whoever was screaming....they go get breakfast
• I pause putting on my makeup to solve the mystery and extremely important problem of who got more cereal, or whatever the cereal crisis might be that particular day.
• I pass a girl in the hallway and ask the questions: Are your teeth brushed? clothes on? chores done? shoes on? The answer is more like a blank stare and the girl goes on
• Another fit...............maybe we resolve it, maybe we ignore it
• repeat the last two steps over and over
• Someone is not happy with their clothes.
• I call for hair........I call for hair.......I call for hair...........I CALL FOR HAIR.........there they come!
• Someone else isn't happy with their clothes, or shoes.
• Maybe chores get done, maybe not.......
• I send them to the car and then get my stuff together
• As I approach the car I hear screaming because one sister OBVIOUSLY looked at another sister in a VERY some kind of wrong way!
• Nobody has their seat belts on.......of course they don't..........

Ok, so this exact scenario doesn't happen every day to THAT extent, and it isn't THAT bad.....well, yeah a few days that is the EXACT day, but most of the time, it is not quite that bad.

Today, however, the day went like this:

• I get up and get in the shower.
• I get out of the shower and start to get ready.........M is already saying unkind words to her sisters........we talk it out........well, I tell her that if she doesn't start talking nicely to her sisters, a nap is in her afternoon future. She gets kind quick.
• I continue getting ready........I see different sisters in and out of the room.....every time I see them, they are a step further in the getting ready process! What? I didn't even tell them!
• Every girl I see I ask......."Are your teeth brushed?" yes, yes, yes, yes are the answers I hear. Really? wow! Nice!
• I look around.........all girls have the right clothes on.......listen.......that is the sound of NO COMPLAINING of clothes!
• I go to get my breakfast........what is this I see? EVERY girl doing their chore.........with a smile! Wait......yep......1,2,3,4........all 4 girls!
• I keep getting ready........uh-oh......A is quiet....where is she? Oh no........there she is.......still trying to find her shoes, but the beauty is, even spending 10 min. trying to find the right shoes, she isn't crying about it! She isn't complaining about it!
• Hair time............1,2,3,4............all 4 girls!
• Time to go..........let's go! They all go out to the car.......I get my stuff.......what???? They aren't fighting!!!!!! They are all sitting.......WITH seat belts on! On the way to where we went.......no fighting! Just talking and a little giggling!

Really, morning times can sometimes get stressful, but we are thankful for every morning, stressful or not that we have together. Have a happy day!