TGIF? BUT...but...

Whenever I am on social websites like facebook & twitter, Friday always has a common theme. "TGIF!" Everyone and his brother seems to resent weekdays more and more each passing weekend. They speak of their personal hatred of Mondays, the boredom of mid week, and then begin their late week countdown to every weekend. It's the same outside the cyberworld also. On a scale from 1 to 5, 1 being hate it, 5 being love it...it's unanimous that Mondays are 1s, Fridays are 5s.

Unanimous, however, may not be completely accurate. Especially since I, for one, would rate Mondays a 4 and Fridays a 2. If you disagree, it is clear to me that you are not a SAHM with school age &/or teen children.

Now don't get all shook up. Please don't misunderstand. I LOVE my husband of 21 years and my wonderful & amazing sons. I also enjoy time spent with them. I uber-enjoy doing things as a complete family. All 5 of us, enjoying something as simple as a meal or church, as a single unit, is incredible. But...there's always the but.

Let's start with the husband. OMG, he is the best husband ever. He goes above and beyond that of the average husband, father & friend. He is selfless. He is generous and helpful to a fault. He is a manly man, who can put a 'machoesque' sub-husband in his place when threatened by teasing. I have the best husband out there...period. BUT (there's that word again)...but...when it comes to children, their care and feeding, juggling them and their periodic meltdowns, kissing boo-boos & other injuries & illness, preparing for transport, hyper flashes & lazy spells, 'girl' squeals, sharing issues and arguments, appropriate clothing choices, diet & nutrition, general messes, etc...he ADDS to the chaos. He has the best of intentions. He longs to be daddy of the year and helpful husband of the decade, but he is not. Whatever chaos and disaster that come with my brood, is elevated, exponetially when my loving husband adds his 'help' to the mix. He compalins often of our children's slobbiness, as well as my own, but fails to see his own trail of garbage & dirty clothes left in his own wake. He makes mountains out of mole hills. His volume knob does not have a low setting, and certainly not a mute. He has some sort of misled belief that if he is louder then the boys, they will be quieter, which is only relative, of course. His anxiety is painfully obvious in sticky situations, even if he tries to hide it, with out success. Meltdowns of children lead to his own personal meltdowns. His thought processes quickly become clouded. Food & clothing choices for the children become almost ridiculous. Shorts in January and cleats for walking the mall and a bowlful of peanut butter drizzled with maple syrup for snacks.

Then there's the teenager. At 19 years old, having graduated HS, he would rather be considered and called an adult. BUT...he is a teenager. He adores his little brothers. I have never witnessed sibling love to this extent in my entire life. He wants them to be happy, loved, secure and safe. He appreciates their beauty and innocence. He cannot believe he will ever love anyone, including his own children someday, any more. I can almost physically see his heart swell with love & pride in those boys' prescence. BUT (it just keeps popping up)...but...he equates happiness with laughter, and will do almost anything to make those boys laugh. After 19 years, he still does not understand the idea of appropriate actions in appropriate situations. He might tickle the boys during church worship services or throw them up in the air in the hospital waiting room. He endlessly enjoys wrestling with them, oblivious to the fact he is a grown man, all 260 pounds, banging into furniture and pounding acciedental blows to anyone in his vicinity. Being a teen, he is very forgetful and a bit self-centered too. Just because he is hungry and foreging for food in the kitchen, does not mean he remembers or thinks at all that the younger boys could be hungry or thirsty at this time too. Not to mention that considering the conquences of his or their actions is nonexistent. He doesn't think 30 seconds to the future. Teens only live in the now. And last but not least...when he wants those little guys' time and attention, he's right there, and when he is done, he is done. He couldn't care less about their desires to continue play or cuddling. As he says, "that's THEIR problem, I need to be alone." All too often he will get them into the habit of nightly cuddle time or all cranked up in play, and then suddenly, without warning, be all done, and the little ones don't understand. They seem to be left hanging and sometimes left wondering what went wrong, as the teen closes himself up within the walls of his room.

Most people would believe that 2 boys, ages 4 & 6, would be chaos in itself. Of all the chaos my tribe creates, the little ones add the smallest portion. BUT (jeesh)...but, they do, in fact add their portion.

I've said it a million times, and I mean it, "Waylon(4yo) was named after an outlaw (Waylon Jennings), and he is living up to that name." He climbs anything, runs everywhere, has a dirty face ALWAYS, tends to be moody, pees in the tub, sneaks, plunders, tears, breaks, leaves a trail of crumbs, refuses to wipe, and generally breaks all the rules on a regular basis.

Wyatt is a mama's boy who worries about everything, is a picky eater, is more stubborn than any mule I know of, cries easily, doesn't know the meaning of the words neat or tidy and talks endlessly. If he doesn't say, "Mom..." 1000 times a day...his tounge must have been rendered useless.

So Fridays, to me are the signal of a 2 day weekend of C H A O S! Mondays become my recuperation & recovery days.

Please let me clarify one important thing about all of this chaos. It is MY chaos. I love it, appreciate it, and will certainly, one day, miss my chaos when all my fledglings have flown the nest. God has certainly blessed me with the very finest fellas in the whole wide world. I love them. They love me. We are passionate about our love, our play, our faith and joy. BUT (yes, I said it again)...but, it is trying sometimes.