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To infinity and beyond.

"Mommy!  Mommy!"

"Ooohhhh Mommeeeeeeeee!  Mommeeeeeeeee....."

What?  Where am I?

"Mommy!  Mommy!  Wake up!"

It finally dawns on me.  I'm in bed. And it's the morning.

I lift my eye mask slowly and see two tiny little faces staring at me and smiling. Without waking me up, my girls had somehow managed to climb into bed with me.  They had already found their comfy spots and were already watching Treehouse.

I groan and stretch. "What time is it?"  My voice sounds like a dying frog.

A very chipper voice answers.  "It's....ummm......six.......zero......4.  I did it Mommy!  I told you the time!  I can tell time!!"  Lola's voice is shockingly happy and loud for this hour.

I try not to seem frustrated at the fact that I am up at six-zero-four......so I put on my best 'supportive' voice.

"That's great baby.  Good for you".  I let out a huge yawn.

I close my eyes again.  Just for a minute.  Suddenly Ryan Gosling appears in my thoughts.  Why am I thinking of Ryan Gosling?  And then it occurs to me.  Dammit!!  I was about to kiss Ryan Gosling in my dream right before I woke up.  Why does that always happen??  Alwaaaayyyyssssss!  I close my eyes again hoping for a continuation, but Ryan smiles and disappears.

"NO!! COME BACK!"  I accidentally yell out loud.

"Mommy!  We're not going anywhere!  We're right here!  Silly Mommy!!"


About 15 minutes later we are downstairs and the girls have already set up the Barbie camper and are role-playing on the couch.

How do they move so fast?  Do kids open their eyes in the morning and immediately go into over-drive?  My car doesn't even move that fast.  Then again, I have a Dodge Caravan.  But it IS the SXT version.  I don't wanna brag but.......


I lean on the kitchen counter, my head resting sideways on one hand, the other hand grasping my freshly-brewed coffee.  The caffeine will surely give me a bit of a boost.  I'll just take a little moment here and relax.   

But suddenly I see Molly jump off the couch and run behind the curtains.

"Molly!  You need to go potty!!"  I announce in a panic.  

So much for relaxation....it's GO time.

"No I DON'T!"

"Yes you DO!"

She runs away from the curtain and towards me.  Haha! Here's my chance to get her!  But in one fowl swoop, she dodges my arm and goes running down the hallway.  What is happening here?  I'm losing control! 

"You tan't tatch meeeeeee!"


I finally catch her while she's running up the stairs, scoop her up and place her on the potty.  There are screams and cries, and then she looks up at the TV and in a happy voice says....."Arthur!"  and somehow forgets about the last 2 minutes.  She is content now.

But I haven't forgotten.  I'm exhausted.  And it's only......six.....two.....five.

The emotional ups and downs of everyday motherhood are ridiculous.  Completely and utterly ridiculous.  Somehow, kids have the ability to scream and cry one minute, and then laugh and sing the next.  I have NO CLUE how they are able to switch it up so fast?  There's no way an adult could function like that. We would constantly be burnt out.  Well, then again, I did have a friend who on every New Years Eve, went from smiling and laughing to balling her eyes out when the clock struck midnight.  We were always in shock when it happened, yet it happened every year.  "Happy New Yearsssss (wahhhhhh).  I'm soooo happyyyyyy (wahhhhhhhh)".

But the average person cannot do what your typical toddler can accomplish.  And this is, switching their mood 100 times a day like it's no effort at all.


Later on that afternoon, Molly was in a great mood, so I decided to take her grocery shopping.  Everything was all fine and dandy until I tried putting her in the grocery cart.  She refused, so I told her that if she stayed close, then she could walk beside the cart instead of going in it.  I'm not sure why I thought this would work?  Sometimes I convince myself that these things will actually work out in my benefit. 

Ya.  NO.

Within 10 seconds, she was darting across the produce section and I, ran like a chicken with my head cut off after her.   She was laughing hysterically until I caught her.  And then the tantrum began.  I totally boycotted shopping and drove back home.  All the way home she sang and laughed.  I just shook my head in defeat.

The day continued with even more ups and downs.  There were temper tantrums, there was screaming, there was laughter, and there was pure joy. 

Everyday, it is my mission to be the best mom I can possibly be.  But who's kidding who?  Most days you're just trying to survive.  Keep kids happy?  Check.  Feed kids?  Check.  Bathe kids?  Check. 

Now, if I can only I could stay on top of my own checklist.  Most days I'm shocked if I remember to actually sit down and eat a meal.

------------

At 7:30pm, I am beyond exhausted.   The girls and I make our way upstairs for bedtime and I collapse in Lola's bed.  I feel like one of those old Polish dolls that I used to own.  Those dolls where you would lay them down and their eyes would close.  And when you would lift them up, their eyes would pop open.  My eyes closed the second I hit the pillow. 

After Lola picked out her book and Molly grabbed her favorite Barbies to sleep with (there are 7 of them), the girls both climbed into bed with me.

"Mommy!  Mommy!"

Molly put her two little chubby hands on my face and whispered.  "Mommy!  I luff you to infinity and beyond". 

Lola turned towards her little sister.  "Molly!  Shhhh!  I'm trying to read my book"  Lola was tired too.  We were ALL exhausted.

"Lola.  I luff you TOO!  To infinity and beyond!"

And with that, we all started laughing.

The day had so many ups and downs, but somehow...... the ending to my day was exactly like the beginning. 

The day had come full circle.  I was exhausted.  But I was happy.

And I was right where I needed to be.  In a cozy bed snuggled with my 2 little angels.  

Somewhere between infinity and beyond.











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