Day One

Dear Diary,
Summer vacation started on Friday. Perhaps that was part of the problem. It seems like no big deal, only one extra day until the weekend so there is no need to prepare for the kids being home all.the.time. It started out with everyone up at 6am. I know that in some households that is normal, but in my house the kids prefer to wake up after 7:30am, which gives me plenty of time to get up, have my coffee and some peace and quiet before the onslaught. So there we were, all awake at 6am and already they were bouncing off the walls. So I did what every responsible and devoted mother does, I went for an early morning run while the husband managed them. Originally this run was on my training plan for around 4 miles. I did 6 and would have done more if I thought I could get away with it. But alas, the husband had to go to work so I reluctantly came back. There is a good chance that at this rate I could be ready for an ultra marathon come fall rather than just a regular marathon.

Once I returned from the run it was quite pleasant. No rushing around making breakfast (mostly because the husband had already done that). No frantically making lunches. No barking at people to get dressed and brush their teeth and wash their face put on shoes and get their backpack and stop playing with legos and no, I don't have time to braid your hair when you ask me two minutes before it's time to leave and yes, you have to wear a coat when it's 20 degrees outside and no, you can't bring the sling shot you made to school today, and so on. This relaxed feeling lasted until approximately 9:30am when it dawned on me that it was well past the time they should be leaving for the bus and yet they were still there. Only now my house looked like a bomb had exploded. A lego and art supplies bomb. And my kitchen had reached a state of permanent stickiness. And already they had complained that they were bored, there was nothing to do, and filled that void by bickering with each other and constantly screeching *mom, brother hit me in the ear*, followed by *mom, sister kicked me in the head*, and so on.

At that point I knew we had to get out of the house. And since the last week of school consisted of only two full days followed by two half days (like they weren't going to have enough time once school got out that they only needed to go half days?) I still had a few errands I needed to run. I fed them some snacks and away we went. Stop number one went fine although I don't know if the appliance sales people at Sears would agree with me as my children opened and closed and opened and closed every washer and dryer in the place. On to the mall and they started to unravel a bit despite my repeated threats and promises of a large pretzel or a toy, or a car on their 16th birthdays. By the time we got back in the car to drive to our final destination they were bickering at full decibel and it became unbearable. We had a long drive to pick something up for my husband and I forgot to bring a movie for the DVD player. So yes, listening to them take turns playing *Dynamite* and *Baby* on the kazoo for 45 minutes was actually soothing compared to the alternative.

Eventually we made it back home and collapsed from exhaustion. I imagine it takes a lot of energy to keep up that level of noise and destruction. I know it takes a lot of energy to try and control it. Lucky for me today will go much smoother I'm sure. Both kids have dental appointments this morning. Wish me luck.