Today was a crazy day, I really felt the juggling act of having four kids. I work every Tuesday and usually with my kids here if they're not at school. I started working 3 weeks ago and have been pretty busy with people wanting to get in since I took a few weeks off. I have a hard time saying no to people although I've gotten better. I've told myself I could only schedule a couple cuts and colors in a day so I would have time to feed and take care of the baby in between, even if it meant working more than one day a week. Today I somehow had four cuts and colors scheduled between 9:30 and 6:30. I couldn't fit them in any other times this week. I just figured I had breaks in between so it'd be okay. Cami wanted to trade with me in the morning so I could watch Scarlett while she worked this week so I took her up on that. She took Cora too which was even better but that left Kenya here and she didn't have school today because of Kindergarten testing. I told Cami I'd bring the girls over at 9:00, well I got home from the gym at 7:45 (yes my day started at 5:30 this morning, fed the baby and went to the gym) and had to get myself ready and Leila and Kenya fed and ready plus feed the baby who had a blowout which meant a quick bath too. Needless to say 9:00 rolled around (and Kenya just rolled out of bed) and we were not ready to get in the car so a quick text to Cami and she came and picked them up on her way home from dropping off Luke at school. That saved me and I was ready to go at 9:30 for my first client. I found a friend for Kenya to play with and drove her over there while my client was processing, and almost got breakfast cleaned up before I finished my client. I got done at 11:50 with my first client, heated up some leftovers and ate lunch while I pumped (that is talent). I ran over to Cami's and picked up the girls, back in time for my next client who was my sister in law Erianne. She brought her kids over so we turned on a show for them and got started. Cora wakes up and starts crying, it's not time for her to eat yet so I run upstairs and put her binky in. She went back to sleep luckily. Leila and Emmie are fighting but decide to go outside, it works for a while. During the color processing I get kids a snack and eat some yogurt and try to straighten up a little bit more. I go down to finish Erianne's hair and Leila and Emmie fight on and off for the rest of the time. My next client shows up while I'm finishing Eri's hair. It's time for Cora to eat but she's still asleep so I let her sleep and hope she stays asleep until my next break. I run upstairs to put Leila down for a nap, have to bribe her with m&m's and she lies down. I get started on Paige's hair and try to arrange for Kenya to get picked up for dance at her friends. I'm also trying to arrange my kids to go to Boondocks that night for their cousins birthday. I have to work and Mark has church meetings so I have to ask family if they'll take my kids. During Paige's color processing I wake up Cora (she stayed asleep, yay!) so I can feed her, Leila is not asleep and is on the potty when I go upstairs. I tell her to lie back down and hope for the best. I wash out Paige's hair and try to get a hold of Kenya's dance carpool to let them know where she'll be. I hear voices upstairs and am confused for a minute, then I realize I have one more child, Charlie, and he's home from school. He gets his practicing and homework done, I finish Paige's hair, Leila never takes a nap and I have 15 minutes to fix Leila's hair and get Cora, Charlie, and Leila in the car so I can drop off Leila and Charlie at Erianne's so they can go to Boondocks while I pick up Kenya's dance carpool. I pick up carpool and drop off Kenya at Boondocks. I get home, heat up the same leftovers that I ate for lunch for dinner, talk to Mark for five minutes then head back down to the Salon, it's just a bang trim so I come up from that and have to wake Cora up to feed her before my next one comes. Feed Cora, put color in my next clients hair and Colby drops off Leila. It's 7:15 and I know she's tired since she didn't have a nap. I go upstairs and put Cora down and try to get pj's on Leila. She freaks. I try to get her take a bath, freaks out at that. Try to get pj's on again, she says she wants to get in the tub. I start the water and she freaks again. "Not that tub!!" She wants to get in my tub. Not happening because Cora is asleep in my closet. I distract her with getting princesses and she gets in the tub. I go finish my client. The last 5 minutes of finishing Leila is yelling for me. I go back upstairs and try to get her out, she freaks. This is where all hell breaks loose. I can't get her to get out of the tub, she doesn't want anything I offer so I pull her out against her will. She's screaming and kicking on the floor while I'm trying to get lotion on her. Charlie and Kenya get home, it's about 8:00. Leila is flailing on the floor and I tell Kenya and Charlie "I've had a really long day, please, please, get ready for bed and go to bed." I cannot calm Leila down and I can feel the craze coming. She won't get her panties on, she says she wants to pick them but won't. She won't let me put them on she's kicking and screaming so hard. I tell her I'm going to spank her, she doesn't stop so I spank her. It doesn't phase her. She runs away and I lie on the floor so I don't run after her and beat her. Kenya says to me "See, that's why I don't want to be a mom, it's too hard. I don't want to have to clean up this whole house!" I try one last time to get Leila's panties on then I stick her in the crib (which she doesn't sleep in anymore) I can't deal with her I need to take some deep breaths. She's screaming in the crib naked, comes out and I try to let her pick her panties again. Still isn't happening. I stick her back in the crib, this cycle happens a couple more times. Finally she calms down enough that I can pick her up so I sit with her in the rocking chair and ask her if she wants a book. She's still crying but gets off my lap and finds a book on the floor. We read the book then I tell her to pick her panties again. She just stares at me and whimpers for a couple minutes. I let her. Then she gives in and lays her head down on my chest. I hold her little naked body on my lap and literally 2 minutes later she is asleep on my lap. It's 8:45. One whole hour of nonstop crying. I'd be exhausted too. Charlie comes upstairs holding Cora who was crying for who knows how long. He gives her a binky and lays her back down and she goes to sleep. Mark comes home 5 minutes later and finds me in Cora's room rocking a naked sleeping Leila, missing it all and very confused. :) The other two don't get in bed until 9:30 because my brother comes over to drop something off for Kenya. I tuck Kenya in and say "You're right Kenya, being a mom is hard, but I love you guys so much and I wouldn't trade it for anything."
Thankfully not every day is like today.
The calm after the storm.
