MORNINGS....

Mornings at our house usually go pretty smooth...I say this because this morning did not. This morning Cort, God bless his soul, woke up on the wrong side of the bed and had a meltdown for 45 minutes. Surprisingly, Mark and I still pulled it together and I made it out the door on time...with happy kids.

This is a glimpse of our morning routine (and how much Mark helps me). We are all up by 6:00. While I spend an hour getting ready, Mark feeds the kids breakfast and gets them dressed for school. I take the kids to school so Mark can then get ready for work. At Children's Courtyard, Keaton and Cort are in different buildings so we rotate who we drop off first. There is a key pad to enter the door code....I mention this because of the many fights over who gets to 'push the buttons'. When they were in the same building, after numerous times of pushing and shoving at the door, I implemented the weekday plan. Keaton gets to push the buttons MWF, Cort gets to push the buttons TTH. (Cort didn't realize he was getting the shorter end of the deal) But now, they each get to push the buttons of their own building.....oh the drama of kids. Anyway, once inside we settle in by hanging up their backpacks, coats, and putting blankets in cubbies. I offer breakfast that is being served even though they already ate at home. The answer is usually no, but every once in a while Cort will sit down and eat again. Then after a big squeeze, an 'I love you, and 'have a good day', I am off. Only to get as far as the window outside for our goodbye wave. Cort usually just stands at the window with a smile and waves. It is cute and quick. Keaton is a creature of habit, he has his routines and you better keep them. We salute, blow a kiss, gig'em (you know the thumb thing) and then wave. I may have to do this 2 or 3 times before I make it to the car. If I keep walking, He just knocks on the window until I turn and do it again. It's cute...I secretly enjoy it because I know one day he will not want mom around at all.

So all of this works great except for the days that are filled with tears, leg hanging, and the heart breaking cries of 'but I'm going to miss you'. Those were the days at the beginning of Kindergarten and still happens every once in a while.

Then I have peace as I drive to work in silence maybe calling Mark telling him how the kids did or what our game plan is for the evening....dinner, activities, etc.

Oh, and this is cute.... on the way to school this morning I was talking with Cort about how he had a hard morning and it resulted in a meeting with the 'no-no stick'. Yes, I am posting that we spanked our child, but his comments sum it up. He said, 'It was just a little spanking. I cried, but...I was just teasing'.