slow start. good beginning.

We got up soooo late this morning. I have a vague memory of a Ben Harper song playing... And suddenly I look at the phone, and it 8:17. Um, at this juncture, we should all be in the kitchen, three kids eating and me packing lunches. All dressed, shoes on.  Instead, we are struggling awake, glaring at the gloom, because it's the gloom's fault that we all thought it was still 6:30.

This is where I normally go into crazy mode, fighting the inevitable tooth and nail.  The inevitable being lateness, and having to walk the girls into the school office, sign them in, and write a note explaining our lateness. Once again.  And wondering what the nice ladies in the office think of the perpetually late Costas.

Take a deep breath. We are doing better lately, and it's just one morning. I did forget to set my alarm, and it's raining. It's not the girls' fault.  I can hear them chatting together, and I find them wrapped up in quilts, in the bottom bunk. Little Girls. Sleepy. Completely unaware that it's Monday.  I love them.  So I manage to take it easy, while making it clear that we do need to get moving.  We stumble through our routine, and into the school office, hair in unbrushed ponytails, but otherwise pretty presentable.  I almost leave my coffee in its chipped mug on the school office desk.  

Jude and I head back home, where we pass Dan, on his very late way to work, and he thanks me for handling the morning with grace. I love that he knows me so well. He knows I wanted to rush around, screaming "Hurry Up!!!" And making everyone tense and miserable. He knows, and he appreciates that I let go of the crazy. It wouldn't have sped anything up. Little victory today. But it means a lot to me. So I came back home and drew a picture. Ink on wood.