After School At Our House: Fact vs. Fantasy

Running wild in my vivid imagination are myriad scenarios of peace, calm, and utter contentment in our daily after-school routine. Smiles are plentiful. Thankfulness is expressed. Everyone listens and cooperates while homework and other responsibilities are tackled.

It's a little ridiculous, I know, but in my mind, our afternoons look like this:

2:30: Pick up the girls from school; they express appreciation for the fact that I woke Spencer up early from a much-needed nap so that I could drive to their school and get them

2:35 School-Age Children quickly put their belongings away without being asked

2:40: School-Age Children start and complete their homework in a reasonable amount of time-- independently--while Preschool-Age Daughter plays quietly and Toddler eats a healthy snack seated in his booster seat (also quietly).

3:00: All children (minus Toddler) ask nicely if there are any jobs that need to be done before they begin their afternoon of clean, quiet, cooperative play.

3:15-Bedtime: Quiet play, delicious dinner that everyone loves and eats, baths, pajamas, bed.
In essence, all is right with the world 

Well, I did say vivid imagination, remember?

Needless to say, in reality, things tend to unravel a little more dramatically (and loudly) in the afternoons than indicated in the above scenario. It usually starts with a complaint from School-age Children that I am late picking them up. As soon as we walk into the house, backpacks and lunch bags throw up violently onto the counters and floor while Toddler cries at the garage door because he wants to go back outside. School-age Children fight over who gets help with their homework first (thank you, Common Core Curriculum for rendering my once independent children completely helpless when it comes to their math homework), Preschool-age Child also vies for my attention and/or sings a little too loudly in the background, Toddler climbs on the table and pounces on unattended pencils and paper (and is removed), Preschool-age Child asks for candy, gum, and a snack, usually in that order, Toddler starts emptying the junk drawer in the kitchen, then climbs onto the table again, this time with a poopy diaper (that'll teach me), a fight erupts while I am changing said poopy diaper, someone is crying because the homework is too hard, Toddler plays in toilet water, Preschool-age Child is screaming at somebody, etc., etc., etc...

Honestly, it puts me out of breath just thinking about it. 

But, to be fair, there are some highlights. Like the fact that Savanna is genuinely happy to see me at the end of a long day at school. Or that Julia and I have started writing secret messages to each other in her school agenda that I sign daily. And that sometimes, just sometimes, Alexa takes the initiative and pushes Spencer around in his tricycle and buys me three minutes of peace while I help with homework.

It may be a perfect storm, but it's my perfect storm, and the fact that I brave it on my own means that every night I surely deserve that bowl of dessert cereal snuggled up next to Craig on the couch while White Collar plays on the TV.

And that's the part of the day when all really IS right with the world.

Another gold star for me for making it through.