Is Everyone’s Life This Chaotic?

Is Everyone’s Life This Chaotic?

Let me start by saying that I truly love my children. I have been blessed beyond what I deserve and I am intensely grateful for all that God has given me. I would also like to mention that God has blessed me with the truest form of variety when it comes to these children. Each of my girls are so different from the other, and it keeps our lives in a constantly unpredictable state. I sometimes wonder if that is the root of the chaos that seems to never end, but it could also be that I lack a sense of preparedness and flourish when it comes to last-minute anything.

My husband and I recently decided to begin the process of shopping for a new home.

We love our house but over the years our family has grown and we have outgrown it. Upon making this decision, we selected a realtor and happened to find a listing that met all of our needs on the very first day. The house we found had only been on the market for a day or two so we knew that it would sell fast. We reached out to our realtor and requested that we set up a viewing as soon as it was available. That being said, there was not much time to plan for a babysitter for we were able to view it that very evening after we both got off work. The girls were very excited to hear that we were going to look at a “new house,” though we initially thought it may not be a good idea for them to come along because their little minds just don’t completely grasp the concept of the factors that are involved when purchasing a new home.

When we arrived, they burst from the vehicle like it was Chuck E. Cheese. This is most likely because my oldest overheard there was a pool in the backyard and relayed this information to the younger two. As we walked in, we began taking the tour, keeping in mind that the house is completely empty with high ceilings so every word echoed loudly and carried through the house. As soon as we walked into the master bedroom my youngest daughter, Three, loudly announced, “MOMMY! I GOTTA POO POO!” I instantly froze because I’m sure our realtor was thinking that these kids are feral. My next thought was, “My God, this house is empty, there’s not going to be any toilet paper.” Luckily, there was toilet paper and Three was able to do her business, leaving the dreaded “streaks” in the professionally cleaned toilet.

I was torn between telling the realtor that we’ll just buy the whole thing as is or rounding the kids and husband up as fast as possible and high-tailing it out of there due to pure mortification.

When it was time to leave, we scheduled a day the following week for our realtor to visit our house and discuss our current home, selling, comps, repairs, asking prices, etc. He also mentioned that he wanted his photographer to come by our house to take pictures the following day. Just the idea of anyone walking into my house at that moment, even a burglar, struck me with utter horror. I work full time as does my husband, along with extra curricular activities for the kids so our window for cleaning is about 2 hours a week.

In all honesty, our house looks like it’s been hit by a category 5 hurricane about 6 days out of the week.

We spent that entire weekend cleaning every inch, corner, and crevices of our home. By Monday afternoon, I rushed home from work planning to make some finishing touches. As soon as I walked into the master bathroom, I noticed ANTS. I then find another line of ants leading into my youngest daughter’s room (under the bed, of all places) and along the windows in the kitchen. As I’m frantically spraying ant spray, vacuuming dead ants, and trying to mop away the ant spray smell, all I could think is, “WHY TODAY?!” My husband arrived home to find me in a state of sweat, wild hair and colorful vocabulary and jumped into action. He went outside to treat where the ants were sourced from. When I finished cleaning the ant carcasses and walked outside, I found a pair of mens socks and blue jeans lying on the grass. I looked around for my husband and didn’t see him anywhere. A few minutes later he bursts inside heading straight to the shower in his underwear stating that he was ambushed by fire ants (which explains the abandoned clothes in the backyard).

When the realtor arrived, my husband had just finished his shower and the girls were very excited to welcome their new friend. My middle daughter, 6, was determined to show him her room first. As she excitedly instructed him to follow her down the hall, she took off like Sonic the Hedgehog only to slip on the hard floor in her socks and run into the wall, thus hitting her face on the floor. When she looked up, she had a goose egg in the middle of her forehead and her nose was bleeding. As I was trying to tend to her wounds, her only concern was how her head was going to look at her school’s orientation the next day.

I know all of this may seem like just a really long story, but, you guys, all of these events took place in just a few short days. The simplest task always turns out to be monumental chaos at every turn. I love my family, I am proud of my girls, I enjoy every second I spend with them. Is it just my family or is this parenting? There is never a dull moment and I mean that with every fiber in my being. No outing is uneventful with this crew.

I have learned to embrace this chaos and take everything with a grain of salt because though it’s crazy, it is so much fun.