Mega

Okay, so why does it take me so long to figure things out?  My husband wonders how I make it through life sometimes.  Usually every morning he is the witness to our chaotic fluttering about as we get ready for school. I suppose this will carry on for a number of years- as we have three girls (and three bathrooms thank the Lord!) 

After almost 3 weeks of school, I am still trying to iron out the kinks in our routine.  I never want to be one of those moms who is swooping in 5 minutes late to everything. You see her rushing and snapping.  She is exasperated and thrown together.  Her children follow her- running to keep up, their backpacks unzipped and papers falling out.  She forgets appointments and never returns phone calls. She is unreliable and a mess. Hmmm, why do I know this woman so well ????  Perhaps it is not quite that bad...but it feels like I must appear that way some days!

I thought about it- and the biggest hang-up we have in the mornings is breakfast. (okay finding matching knee high socks that don't have "dark, yucky, shoe stains" is another time waster.)  Remember the muffins?  Well, we can't eat another muffin for about 6 months or more.  Totally burned out on cranberry oatmeal pecan.  I never thought that I would say that.

Currently, waffles are all the rage.  I do my best to make them in huge batches on the weekend and freeze them for quick toasting during the week.  They also love english muffins.  I love them as well because the provide a platform for peanut butter- my favorite food (and good protein).  These are easy right?  All you have to do is toast them.  Well, we had a toaster with two slots, one of which turned things out extra crispy.  There are 5 of us, and one working toaster slot.  Do the math...lots of finger drumming on the counter waiting for the next waffle to go in.  By the time I had served one- and made another...they were asking for seconds!  I could literally sit there and be toasting for 20 minutes.  Solution:

The monster mega toaster!  Why didn't I think of this earlier?  Genius.

More finger tapping at the coffee maker.  I usually like to brew my coffee with a stove top espresso pot and then add foamy milk.  Yeah, not so practical anymore.  This luxury is now enjoyed in the afternoon when life is not spinning out of control at a million miles per hour.  The bigger issue is that Carl drinks regular coffee and I drink decaf.  One coffee maker, two different kinds of coffee to be brewed. This created a lot of tension over who got to go first and how long their coffee would be allowed to sit there before the other person came along and dumped it out to make their own. Tick, tick, tick, can't you just hear me getting later and more snippy by the minute?  Solution:

Super mega, monstrous, "looks-like-it-should-be-working-the-breakfast-shift-at-Denny's" coffee maker.  Regular on the left, decaf on the right.  Whew, that was the invention of the century!  Brilliant!  Yes, these appliances are huge. And no, they do not add to the charm of my decor-- but at some point being practical wins over (geez I really am almost 30 aren't I?).

So you see, little by little I am changing my image.  Before you know it I will be early and fresh faced.  My children will be well rested and put together- no jelly on their faces.  We will walk to their classrooms and bask in the orderliness of our morning.

....or maybe I'll just be on time.