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battleworn

look at this mug!
all he wanted to do this morning was
brush his little teeth. could be worse.
you may not know this about me, but like all mommies, i am a vmb. that stands for "veteran* of the morning battle." 

the opening salvo is typically fired somewhere between 6am and 7am. it begins with a little, seemingly innocent voice. "mommy? daddy? buddy? juice? elmo shoes? basketball? bear?"

it ramps up quickly to a full-bore air-raid siren. "MOMMMMMYYYYYYYYYY!"

then the barrages come fast and furious as i shower, do my hair and makeup, make/eat breakfast, see my husband off to work. "mommy, up please. mommy, up please. mommy, up please. mommy, cheese!" (handing him some cheese.) "no! mommy cupcake!" (handing him a muffin.) "no! mommy, up please! mommy, juice!" (putting down my makeup to find the juice cup.) "no! mommy, up please!"

somehow, we survive every morning more or less intact. and by the time the juice has been consumed, the makeup is on, and we're finally united making a dash out the door to try to beat our mutual adversary, the clock, all is well. (with the occasional exception of mommy's shirt being inside out, or the banana smear on mommy's pants that she won't notice til lunchtime.)

hectic? yes. exhausting? yes. frustrating? sometimes. but when i take another look at the pic at the top of this page, i can't help thinking it won't be so long before he wants nothing to do with mommy and daddy. so we'll take a barrage of "mommy up please"s for now, and get in the hugs and squeezes while we can (around the toothbrushes, breakfasts, and blowdryers).

* this must be said: despite my silly use of the word veteran, i am in no way comparing my easy life to the tough job of the vets who actually have defended (and are currently defending) our country. i couldn't bear it if  they thought i was holding them in anything but the utmost respect and appreciation.
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