these are the days

Raising kiddos inevitably produces those rare (or not so rare) moments when complete utter chaos ensues in which I’m not sure I will survive.  And then somehow I do and am able to not only smile but laugh at the hilarity of it all.  

Levi learning to smile too

Yesterday morning was one such occasion.  The day began with fishing Matchbox cars out of the toilet, a fussy baby and combo tantrums from the oldest two.  It was a playground day and despite the early morning chaos I was determined to make it to the park before it got too hot.  By the time I grabbed a cup of coffee and drove to the park, which was only 2 miles away, all three boys were screaming to get out.  The sprinklers were on in the field next to the playground and of course the moment Isak and Ben were let out they sprinted to the nearest mud puddle.   Pulling Levi’s car seat out I hear him explode in his diaper so I decide there could be worse things than wet, muddy boys and to attend to the diaper first.  I got all set up on a park bench, since all the grass was wet, and was halfway done with the diaper change when the sprinklers right next to us start up, spraying Levi and I both.  He of course is unhappy.  I grab him up, diaper half on, grab our things, kick over my coffee and dart to a dry bench, Levi all the while screaming and mouthing at me like he’s starving.  I went ahead and started to nurse him.  The big boys made their way back over all smiles and grass and mud covered.  Ben then decides he needs his water bottle and begins emptying my backpack onto the bark to get the bottle which has settled at the bottom of the pack, at the same time Isak with panic tells me he needs to pee and Levi explodes again in his diaper that never got situated just right and therefore there is poo clear up to his neck rolls.  So there I sat- Levi and I covered in poo, all the contents of our pack spread out all over the place, Isak with his pants around his ankles peeing in the bush behind us.  I looked longingly at the moms sitting poolside at the adjacent pool, reading their books while their kiddos were at swim practice and thought to myself that will be the day!  But twenty minutes later Levi was cleaned up and sound asleep in his car seat, the muddy big boys were sitting next to me on the park bench happily sharing a snack, I had a bouquet of dandelions from Isak at my feet and about two sips of coffee left that hadn’t been spilled and I thought to myself, nope I was wrong these are the days!