Hands off..that's my job!

BOING!

My eyelids open. I steal a peek at the clock- too early. Problem is…I can't go back to sleep. I am wide awake at least an hour earlier than I need to be.

Why? I petition my ceiling and those beings that live beyond. WHY?
Then WHACK! I take a hit from a little hand; flung in fitful slumber and suddenly my blanket is gone- stolen by the other little body I am sandwiched between.

Okay, answer noted.

I grab another blanket and was just about to lie down across the bottom of my bed, far from the kicking feet of toddlers, when the chill in the air catches my attention by attaching itself to my arms in the form of goose bumps.

What the...? The furnace should have come on by now...it shouldn't be THIS cold. I stumble out into the hallway where the thermostat hangs on the wall. I was greeted with nothing. Absolutely, nothing! It was blank. I flick it... hoping that will make it work...still nothing. I notice a battery panel... did you know thermostats use batteries? I didn't until now.

Down to the laundry room, pull out the battery box...no AA batteries. I find a walkie talkie on the dryer, steal the batteries from it, feed the thermostat, and hear the furnace roar back to life.

Back in my room I find a space amongst the little bodies in the jig saw puzzle I call my bed and lay there mentally tallying my list of things to do today against my stamina of 4 1/2 hours sleep.
Totally lopsided.

 Again, I petition my ceiling and those who live beyond, "Do I HAVE to be the Mom today? Can't it be someone else’s turn?"

I feel weepy. When I'm tired I get that way; and I am tired. The lack of sleep that accompanies the nights when Richard is out of town, coupled with children who need comforting in the night and storms that blow open doors, setting off alarms that scare me senseless, were all adding up.

As the pre-dawn light changed into brighter day, I push myself onto my knees knowing I would need every ounce of help I could get today. I finish and head for the shower, knowing if it didn't happen now, it wouldn't happen at all.

It helped. I threw back that shower curtain ready to take on the day.... no towel. I tip toed to the linen closet, careful not to wake any slumbering children who I might scare into a stupor that years of therapy most likely would not undo...empty.

The ceiling is petitioned once again, "Come on...really?!?"

I streak down the stairs- praying all the blinds got closed last night, so my neighbors won't be treated to an unwanted early morning peep show. Towel found and safely back in the shelter of my bathroom I proceed to get ready for the day. Deodorant- check, lotion the arms, now the legs....hold on...they don't feel the same...one is still prickly. I shaved only one leg.

That was it. I was done. The ceiling wasn't petitioned, it was told, "I think it would be better if I took a day off and went back to bed."

But we know that moms don't get days off. There were places to go, things to do, and I was the one in charge. So pity party left behind, I started the usual routine of waking kids.

As I tousled bed head hair and kissed sleepy cheeks good morning, it struck me. I wouldn't want anyone else to do this. This was my job. Tired or not, I was the one I wanted those sleepy eyes to see first thing in the morning and it was my voice telling them "I love you" I wanted them to hear as they left for school.

And as for the craziness... it is my craziness. I do it very well might I add. And as I stare into the refrigerator and realize that I'm really looking for my checkbook, I wouldn't have it any other way.