Happily, today was a SuperMom day. Not only did I knock off all three things on my to-do list (I didn't say it was a long list) but I let the kids play outside in the backyard after school. We haven't done that in like forever.
Yes yes, I can see you shaking your head and feel your questioning eyes boring holes through your computer screen into mine, asking me what my problem is. I'll tell you, it's not so much a problem as it is a pain in the neck. Getting the older three out the back door without anyone falling down the steps to the basement is hard enough, but throw in a baby in a carseat and snap 'n go stroller and it requires military precision - or at the very minimum, two parents. And the snacks, my lord, you would think we were going on a 3-day hike instead of ten feet from the kitchen. The backdoor is practically in the kitchen - it's so close that if you were really really starving and really feeling faint and you felt like there was just no way you could pull yourself up the three steps into the actual kitchen, you could just stick your hand inside the back door and grab an oreo and a juice box from the back closet. I'm just saying, my kids might be a tad dramatic at times. And I have absolutely no idea where in the world they get that from.
So yeah, outside with four kids and not a toy in sight. And yet there must be at least 34,987 leaves in the backyard. At least that many. I can say that because last year at this time, when not all the leaves had yet fallen off the trees, we spent an entire Sunday bagging leaves, ended the day with 23 overflowing lawn bags and for sure another 12,000 leaves on the ground, with more just waiting for us to go inside so they too could jump off their trees and onto our property. So at this point, because we have not yet bagged one leaf, I would say that my estimate of 34,987 is probably on the low side.
I just stood there (sadly, all the chairs are in the garage too) and watched them. And all of a sudden I knew it was time to go in.
Was it dark? No.
Was it getting cold? Nope!
Were they hungry? Probably, but not the answer I'm looking for.
Care to take another guess?
No?
Okay, I'll just tell you - the fighting had begun.
"He took my leaf!"
"He made me fall on a leaf!"
"She hit me with a leaf!"
Oh, the melodious voices of my children complaining.
And so inside we went. Arthur-Cyberchase-Ruff Ruffman-dinner-and-a-bath. Our lovely routine taken care of, it was off to bed for the kiddies.
Did I still feel like SuperMom? Kind of. I also feel kind of starving from all this mothering. I'm gonna go drag myself to the kitchen and reach my hand into the back closet for an oreo and a juice box before I faint.