School Daze...(sorry, this is long)

I have waited for this day for as long as I can remember. The day that I could wake up my kids for the first day of school and start them off with the best first day of school ever. In my daydreams, I would wake them up gently, saying " Good morning sleepyhead(s), today is your first day of (insert grade here)." They of course would wake up thrilled about this day and would hop out of bed, make said bed, then go downstairs to a freshly cooked breakfast of something great like bacon and eggs, or pancakes, or muffins, basically something warm that would start them off with a bang. During this breakfast, we would discuss their excitement about the new things they would learn, the new people they would meet and what they wanted to take to school for lunch. After breakfast, they would head upstairs to brush their teeth, get dressed in their most favorite new outfit and then watch a few cartoons before heading off. While they were getting ready, I would obviously be making their perfectly portioned and healthy lunches that would keep them energized to learn. Maybe I would even write a special note to let them know that I was thinking about them and hoping that they were having a great day. The time would come for them to leave, there would be goodbyes and a picture so that they could remember their most perfect first day of school morning forever. After they left, I would carry on with all the things that I have to do in the day, take care of younger children I might have, laundry, clean the house, etc. The time would come for the older kids to get home from school and I would be waiting with cold glasses of milk and fresh baked cookies. Our kids would run through the door, ecstatic about what a great day they had and bursting to tell me all about it. After all this, they would play, dinner would come and then it would be showers and bed to prepare to do it all over again the next day. Like I said, this is how I always daydreamed it would happen. I mean my Mom could do it, June Cleaver could do it, so why shouldn't I be able to? Well, reality hit like a ton of bricks this morning and it was nothing like my dreams! 7:00 came, I had two screaming babies needing to be fed, a husband getting ready to go out of town, two boys to get up that weren't ready to, and most crushing to me, no muffins! How would they make it through the day with out a great breakfast?! So, after setting the girls up with bottles propped in their mouths and the boys eating nice bigs bowls of cocoa pebbles, I set off to make a pot of coffee. Then it dawned on me, "Um, I guess I need to make some lunches for the boys. Duh!" After getting my act together, I have to say that I did pull off the lunches pretty well. The boys were excited about what was packed and I decided to spare them the embarassing note that they probably would have just wiped their mouth on anyway. I did manage to get a picture before they ran out the door, but don't know that I want them to remember their morning of cocoa pebbles and screaming sisters. Speaking of sisters, no, they did not let me accomplish the tasks that I needed to through out the day. The boys came home, again to crying and hungry babies, there was folded laundry everywhere (hey, at least I got to fold it) and no cookies and milk. The best repsonse I got about how their day was, was "Good." They gave me the paper work I needed and settled in to watch cartoons. So, as I sit here, wondering where my daydreams of the last 20 yrs. went, I realize that I was expecting perfection when no one is perfect. I'm okay with the fact that my life is writing its own story and I don't have to rely on daydreams. We have a great family that loves one another, and that's all that matters. There is one daydream that I will not give up though. As soon as I'm done with this, I will be making muffins for tomorrow!