The following story is true:
At 4:00 in the morning, the cat wakes me up. He wants food and attention. He is followed closely by my 6 year old, crying and screaming. He doesn’t want to sleep in his bed and everyone “is breathing too loud”. I close all the doors and settle on the couch with him. Unfortunately, I am also breathing too loud. As I struggle to stay awake, I am aware of a electrical tingle down my neck and spine and pain in my head- a migraine has been triggered.
I am poked awake by my 10th grader, who needs a ride to school. I get up and am immediately hit by a wave of nausea and an intense headache. Thankfully, it’s cloudy which subdues the sunrise. I stumble home after dropping him off and greet my oldest who needs a ride to work. Neither of us thinks I can make it. I wake my husband and collapse in bed.
I wake up after 9; my 6 and 12 year olds should already be at school. I wake them up and drag myself downstairs, keeping the house as dark as possible, I start to make peanut butter and jelly but I can’t find the loaf of just purchased bread. Did the teenagers eat an entire loaf in less than a day? I search the entire kitchen and pantry twice, finally accepting defeat and throwing an assortment of fruit and snacks into lunch boxes.
My 6 year old has been a constant whine of “I hate school, I don’t want to go. I’m too tired.” I snap, “No one cares. Everyone is tired.You’re going to school.” He stomps upstairs and comes down dressed- in shorts. I send him outside to check the weather. He screams in the cold.
“Do we really have to go to school?”, asks 12.
I tell her she better not forget anything because it will stay here. I grab 6’s winter coat and notice a sleeve is inside out. His thermos is stuck In His coat sleeve. I untangle it and toss the backpack and thermos into the car. I head back inside and notice the loaf of bread lying by the house. I had tripped over a snow shovel while carrying in the groceries yesterday. I had been so pleased I caught the $7 jar of Alfredo sauce (an indulgence) that I failed to see the bread go airborne, landing behind the bikes.
We were 2 hours late to school.
Chaos.