5:20PM - I walk in the door, check the mail and change clothes. Brandon hasn't gotten home with the kids yet, so I breathe in the quiet air and put on my tennis shoes.
5:30PM - I meet my neighbor on the sidewalk for one of our usual walks. I really walk for my mental health more than my physical health. It's a total sanity saver. Have I mentioned to you all that I'm doing The Color Run this Saturday?? Yea - not ready for this one at all.
6:20PM - I am done with my walk and my family is home. I walk in the back door to Brooks who meets me with a big happy smile and yells "We're cuttin' the gass momma! I go with Daddy!" Brandon confirms that he's taking the boys outside to cut the grass. Tessa's crying in her exersaucer because Brandon walked out of her line of view, so I go to pick her up.
6:23PM - Brandon asks the boys to go change pants before cutting the grass. Brooks immediately goes to change clothes. Will simultaneously starts whining that he loooovvvvveeeessss his current pants (pj pants) and doesn't want to change them.
6:25PM - Will is pitching a royal fit and still in pajamas. He's literally crying so hard you would think his leg has been torn off. (I'm going to let you in on a dirty little Rutledge marriage secret - the biggest source of angst in my marriage comes from Brandon saying one thing, and me saying another.) So even though I couldn't care less if the child wears pajamas to cut the grass, Brandon said change clothes and I am sticking by him. Will has to change to go outside. I tell him that he has to stay inside with me until he can calm down, stop whining and change pants.
6:35PM - Tessa is in high chair with a Mum Mum (I really don't know what that is other than to say it looks like a disgusting baby rice cake - but she loves those things!) Will is still crying. I get all the ingredients for meatloaf out. Brandon has been asking for meatloaf every night for at least a week and this is my late attempt to please him.
6:40PM - I put Will at the table with crayons, scissors, pencils and a few workbook pages. He's still upset (and in his pajamas) and this is my feeble attempt at distracting him long enough to get the meatloaf in the oven.
6:41PM - Will is crying because he can't cut straight on the lines of his workbook page. I remind him that he picked that page (not me) and that he can choose another page if he likes. I still haven't touched the meatloaf.
6:45PM - Will has decided to practice handwriting rather than cutting, so I give him a new page & throw away the one he gave up on, give a crying Tessa her second Mum Mum and move back to the meatloaf ingredients.
6:50PM - I have my bowls all ready to go - measuring cups are out and I'm about to get elbow deep in the ground beef when Will starts crying because he's noticed that I threw away the old sheet and he was "going to keeeeepppppp itttttttt." I put on my best patient face and get down on his level - I explain that we can get a new sheet, but that he needs to calm down so that he can go outside with Brooks and Daddy. He remembers that Brooks and Daddy are outside and goes storming off to his room screaming at the top of his lungs. I try think about all the things that I love about him, instead of the fact that I want to strangle him.
7:00PM - Before I get all messy with ground beef, I decide to move Tessa from her high chair to the floor so that I don't have to worry about giving her snacks with ecoli hands. Will is still crying in his room. I shut his door to block out the noise.
7:05PM - I start dumping ingredients as fast I can into the mixing bowl. I mix the ground beef in with my hands.
7:06PM - Will is now kicking something in his room. I swear under my breath and put everything back in the bowl. I wash my hands, dry them off and walk to Will's room. Tessa sees me walk past her room and she starts crying too.
7:10PM - I ask Will why he's crying and he says (while crying) that he doesn't know. He's been crying for almost an hour now. My mommy senses make me think something else is going on. I check for fever - no fever. I finally get him calmed down by giving in and telling him he can go outside if can change clothes and put his shoes on. I put some blinky noisy toys in front of the crying baby and head back to the meatloaf.
7:15PM - Still mixing the meatloaf and Tessa is crying so hard that she's holding her breath. I look at the raw ground beef in front of me and seriously consider licking it, in hopes that a good case of ecoli would mean I could lie in bed alone for a few days. I wash my hands again and go pick her up. I put her back in her high chair and give her another pack of baby rice cakes. I wonder if too much rice will make her tummy hurt, but I'm too stressed to think of another solution. She takes it, and eats it still crying. It's her bed time and at this point I consider the time and the fact that the meatloaf takes more than an hour to cook. I make the decision to let her cry and hurry through with getting dinner in the oven so that we can eat before 9PM.
7:16PM - Will comes into the kitchen and asks for help with his shoes. I don't want to set him off into another crying fit, so I wash my hands and agree to help. The baby is still crying. And because I've washed my hands about 10 times in 30 mins, my skin feels like it's burning off when I rinse them off. I want to cry. I want to take the meatloaf and stick it up Brandon's nose.
7:17PM - Will finally has his shoes on and I say something funny to get a smile out of him. He laughs and snot flies from his nose into his mouth. He immediately starts crying AND gagging. I hurry to get the snot out of his mouth before he pukes. That is the last thing I need.
7:18PM - I send Will outside, put the meatloaf mixture into the baking dish and wash my hands again. I'm pretty sure I see my actual skin peel off and go down the drain. Tessa is still crying, so I go to her first. Brandon walks in for a drink and I make a smart comment about how much I hope he loves his meatloaf. He shoots me a look and slams the door as he goes back out into the yard. That didn't go well. Siggghhhhh.....
7:30PM - I sit down to feed Tessa. She's as happy as a clam now that I'm holding her. I immediately forget about the hell I've just been through and snuggle up to my sweet girl. I think about how I was just at work 2 hours ago. It was only 2 hours, but it feels like a lifetime ago. I think about how different my life is from anyone I work with.
7:45PM - The boys come in and head for the shower. I apologize to Brandon for smarting off and he
8:15PM - I lay Tessa in her crib and turn out her lights. One down, two more to go.
8:20PM - The oven timer goes off and I put the topping on the meatloaf and put it back in the oven for 30 minutes. The boys come bounding into the kitchen asking for their supper. I consider the time and my energy level. Knowing Will won't eat red meat anyway, I pop a few corn dogs into the microwave, throw some cheese puffs and applesauce on their paper plates and call it dinner. Hey - it could be worse.
8:35PM - The boys are done eating and beg for me to read to them. We brush teeth, get vitamins, and head to bed with our latest (and first) chapter book - The House in the Big Woods.
8:50PM - From the boys' bed I hear the oven timer go off. I hear Brandon get out of his recliner and get the meatloaf out. He sits it on the stove top.
9:15PM - I finish another chapter of the boys' book and tuck them in. Two more hugs. One more tuck in. Night light on, then off, then on again. All three children are now in bed.
9:22PM - I walk into the kitchen to find that Brandon has already cut himself a big piece of meatloaf. There's only one problem with it - the inside is still red. I ask him if he ate any, because obviously it needs to cook longer. His answer "I was going to ask you about that. How much longer does it need?" I want to cry. I put it back in the oven, and set the timer for 25 more minutes. I think about how hungry I am, but also how chubby I am. I think that the last thing I should do right now is eat meatloaf at 10PM. So I go to bed.
At 9:30PM I walk into my bedroom, finally take off my sweaty walking clothes, brush my teeth and go to bed. I don't shower. I don't take my makeup off. I feel defeated. I feel like a crappy mom because 2 out of 3 of my kids cried all evening. I feel like a cruddy wife because it's late and Brandon hasn't eaten dinner. And I'm hungry. So I just curl up in my unmade bed and go to sleep.
And THAT my friends is what a pretty typical evening in the Rutledge house looks like. Not always - but often. Does it make you jealous? Yea - I didn't think so.
Oh girl...I feel for you! And...I'm a little scared for my future because we have nights like that with just ONE baby!
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