Getting out of the house on time with a smile...

On preschool days (M-W-F) I start my day at 6:30 with a list of tasks to attend to. In order to get everybody out of the house and on time for school, I have a lot of work to be done. First I change a set of diapers, and then I go downstairs and give the babies their bottles while I make coffee and unload the dishwasher that runs each night. I make breakfast for Emily, and possibly help Scott out with making his lunch. I makes sure Scott has everything he needs for his day before I kiss him goodbye.

Then I make the babies their food. I give them their puffs to munch on to hold them over, and then feed them their bowls of food. This in itself is quite the task. Elsie doesn't like long waits between bites, so many times I find myself getting in the cycle of pick up pink bowl, give spoonful, put pink bowl down, pick up green bowl, give spoonful, put green bowl down. Over and over and over.

Then when they are done eating, I clean them both off, taking great care to remove any crumbs of food from their necks. Then its time to clean up their high chairs. This means the seat where they drop pieces of food, the trays, and the high chair toys that hang off the side. Once those are washed, dried, and secured back on the chairs, I wash their bowls, spoons, bottles, and bibs.

Finally, as soon as all of this is finished, its time to move all three kiddos upstairs to get ready for preschool. I settle the babies down in the pack and play while Emily attends to her list of four things to do: get dressed (I have clothes laid out for her) brush her teeth, make her bed, and brush out her hair. I shower while she is doing this and get myself ready to go. Then I finish Emily's hair for her before changing both babies out of their jammies. Then Emily turns out all the lights while I load the babies in their car seats. I make sure she gets all of the proper outer wear that the day's weather requires, and its off to the car we go!

Seriously... this is what 6:30-8:30 looks like on preschool days in our home.

Most days there is some sort of hang up: one of the babies doesn't think I should shower, but would rather I held him or her, Emily doesn't like the shoes I picked out, or even more often, Emily doesn't like the socks. (She has serious issues with the sock seem that goes across her toes. That sock seem has created some serious drama on occasion!)

But this morning, everything was smooth. Emily did exactly what she was supposed to, checking her way off the sheet as she went. She was glad that when she sat down she had enough time to watch an entire Clifford video before we needed to load up the car. She played with her brother and sister, which allowed me to get myself together with more time than normal (my hair is actually styled today!). We didn't forget anything either!

I dropped Emily off feeling quite proud of us for being so on top of it, and on a Monday morning no less!? And then I returned home to find a message from Emily's teacher on the answering machine: Emily's fabulously cute rain boots were bothering her. She took them off, and refused to put them back on. Something about her not being able to run like a cheetah. Could I please bring her some tennis shoes?

Ugh.

And I thought I was doing so well this morning!?! Oh well. I'm so glad Emily doesn't have preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Wednesday will be another day to try it all over again!