Meltdown Monday

Our Monday morning routine is pretty set in stone. I drop the kids off at the YMCA’s Child Watch and I take the next two hours to cram in a work out, a quiet and hot shower in which no one needs me for anything and I don’t have to pay the water or heating bill, and a shopping trip downstairs at the grocery store that’s connected to our Y. There are always a few variables that might change our plan a little bit for the day because, well, I have children.

Today’s game changers: Meltdown Monday.

This was the day that everything got delayed because of the meltdowns. Drew tripped and crashed onto the kitchen floor and you would have thought the world was coming to an end. Kate screamed, shrieked, bawled, and had trouble breathing because of her tantrum- all because Daddy was leaving for work. She carried her drama to the front porch as Jon was climbing in his car and continued to notify the neighborhood of the rough life she leads. Drew joined her in the wailing, and it was at that moment that I wanted to throw myself on the hood of Jon’s car and make him stay and let me leave.

He left. And so I did what any mother would do and I dragged my children (“drag,” in every sense of the word) into the house to put on shoes so we could go to the Y and I could please have 2 hours to my very own self to do whatever I wanted. By the time we got there, I was left with just enough time to run ONE mile, take a super quick shower, and then grab the kids to head to a meeting. {Why does this stay at home mom have a meeting to attend? Come back tomorrow to find out some news in our family!}

As I toweled off and threw on some clothes, a good friend from my teaching days came into the locker room and we began to chat. Another mom joined in on the conversation once she heard me talking about Meltdown Monday. My friend, in a noble effort to be encouraging said, “Hang in there. One day you’ll miss Meltdown Monday.”

Hmmm. My mind flew to this fabulous post, and that’s when I decided I wasn’t going to smile and move on. I told her the truth about what I was thinking. Not always a good move, but I think it was okay this time. I said, “Nope. I sure won’t. There are a lot of things about 2 and 3 that I will miss about my kids. I’m certain of that. However, Meltdown Monday is not one of those things.”

Life gets easier and life gets harder as kids grow up. But, I just don’t know of any mother (with children of ANY age) who misses the raw, the painful, and the ugly moments of motherhood.

Sweet smelling babies, children who don’t talk back, life without homework and college admissions, no children behind the wheel, kids who aren’t dating yet… Those are things to miss.

Sleepless nights, three year old tantrums, battles over multiplication table memorizing, hugs and tears because of bullying or losing a class election, frayed nerves over missed curfews… Those are things that people just are not eager to re-live.

Amen?

Amen.

Moments I miss...

Moments I don't miss... You know the sound that's about to erupt from this mouth!