one hour

I get up early on most mornings to have a little bit of time to myself before the day begins. Sometimes I exercise, sometimes I get a few things done around the house, and I always have a cup of coffee and have my quiet time. By the time the kids wake up, I feel like I've accomplished something and I feel ready to take on the day.
And then it's nine o'clock and I'm huffing at Truett for not standing still when I'm trying to put his coat on and I'm letting out my breath as Jem decides that he has to use the potty the instant I open the door to lead everyone out to the car. In a word, I'm frazzled and it only took one hour. In that hour I can feel my blood pressure start to rise as I try my best to meet everyone's needs and still find myself with unhappy kids.
It starts with the tiniest of things and just escalates from there. Truett puts his underwear on backwards, again. He gets bent out of shape at having to take them off and put them back on. Jem puts his pants on over top of the shorts he wore to bed. He is okay with having to do it all over again but loses it when I ask him to try to take off his own shirt. Meanwhile, Truett has moved into the bathroom to "brush his teeth" which consists of him standing at the sink playing with the water while his toothbrush sits in his mouth. I hustle him out of the bathroom and tell him to go downstairs. I check on Jem who is still crying about his shirt. Truett has ignored my directions and is in Caia's room. I get her up and take her downstairs and Tru follows. I leave Jem upstairs to finish getting dressed.
I change Caia. Truett wanders back upstairs which freaks Jem out for some reason. I call to Truett that he needs to come back down. He responds by saying no. Big surprise. I tell him to come downstairs again and ask him to make a good choice. He reluctantly shuffles back down the stairs. I get Caia's bottle ready and fix breakfast for Truett. Instead of getting into his seat he opens the back door and climbs around on furniture. I have to remind him that he is supposed to be getting into his seat which he promptly does.
Jem finally makes an appearance so I have to fix his breakfast. Caia is crying because she has seen her bottle and thinks that it should be in her mouth at that very moment. I get Jem all set with breakfast and sit down to feed Caia. She takes two strong tugs at the bottle before Truett announces that he is done with his pancakes and would like something else. And it continues.
During that hour there is not one single moment when someone is not asking me for something: a drink of milk, help with shoes, permission to get down from the table, etc. I don't feel like a mom during that hour. I feel like a machine that has been given too many tasks at once and is going into full melt-down mode. Some days I do a good job of regrouping and getting back in there. And other days I want to tell my kids to go play outside and lock the door behind them.

photo by picasnpoints  http://www.flickr.com/photos/picas_and_points/316100209/