Because mornings with one little babe, 6 dogs, 4 cats, 1, no, 2 rabbits, and 9 chickens isn't crazy enough, today was even worse because I am recovering from an infection (tune in tomorrow to get the nitty gritty on that) and the right side of my neck is extremely painful and stiff. Oh, and my husband had to leave the house at 7:45 today. He was very nice and kept an eye on the babe so I had my 45 minutes of computer time in bed. He also got the woodstove cranking, let out the chickens, and took care of his own lunch. Then he left.
This is a normal morning routine.
I have to put the little babe in her high chair so she doesn't take the dog's bowls. Then I sweep the laundry room and cat room floors, which have hay, rabbit pellets, and cat litter on them from the previous night. Then I feed the cats, close the cat room door, and let in one Corgi who has to eat separate from the rest because she is a nasty you-know-what when it comes to food. Next I have to pick up the old Corgi and stick her behind the baby gate in the office because she is half senile and just hops all around knocking into things and being in the way of everybody, other dog's included. Then 6 bowls to gather, dry food to dish out, heavy bowl of wet food from the fridge to dish out, meds for some, water in bowls for some, and finally they all eat.
Then we wait. And wait some more. Because everybody has to wait for Wallace, my large Romanian dog because he is the slowest eater in the world of dogs. You would think a former street dog would scarf his down like nobody's business, but nope, Wallace is the only one who actually lies down to eat. One dog will walk around him to go outside, but the other two loose ones crowd him like vultures and won't go out until they can finish off his bowl. The two that are locked up have to wait because they'll cause a fight. And then there is the little babe, who hopefully is patiently eating something and watching the routine which she probably knows by heart. At this point I normally get my granola ready because I like it to soften up before I eat it. I also prep something a little more substantial for the little babe like yogurt with flaxseed and maple syrup or quinoa with maple syrup and raw milk.
After they are all outside, which involves carrying one and a chase around the table for another, I still cannot sit down to eat my granola. I have to open the cat door back up, then feed the rabbits. Sometimes I now also go outside to let out the chickens and give them water, which in Winter involves filling up a plastic gallon milk container at the kitchen sink and carrying it out. Hopefully it is not a day that I have to fill up their feed, because then that is an additional trip to the shed and back. Back inside, I have probably been heating some tea for myself (we don't own a microwave) and now I can start eating my granola. And I should emphasize START. Because now over the course of 15 minutes I will have to open up the back door about 6 times. One for each dog that wants to come in. During this time my granola will have moved from nicely soft to basically soggy. I will also be trying to feed the little babe, who will be acting like she is tired (after only be awake for an hour and a half) and does not want to eat the healthy food that I just made. So I give up on her, get up yet again to clean her up, and then try to finish my darn bowl of granola. And it is only 8:15! Whew.
So after letting her down this morning, I look up from my soggy granola and see this.
I did not know that she could get up there by herself and she would not be able to unless she stood on the little blue rocking chair. A chair that rocks, on slate tile, so not the safest thing to be doing.
So of course I had to leave my granola and go join her for a little bit of chicken watching and "Where's Callie?" playing. (Callie is the half-senile Corgi who frequently gets stuck in snow drifts.) Then my nose realized that the reason the little babe went down there and was now sitting kind of funny on the bench was because she pooped and it was leaking through her pants. Oh, and I forgot to mention that when I cleaned her up from breakfast (the event that took place just 10 minutes ago), I had to strip off her pajamas and get her dressed right away because she had banana smashed all over it, including her butt, and I didn't want that all over the house. So then we had to do the whole poopy diaper ordeal and ordeal it is. 20 minutes later, second set of clean clothes on, she is getting tired and cranky, I have just taken the last bite of my mushy granola milk, and am attempting to hang some laundry. Yeah, something else I did - ran a load in the washing machine and put a load into the dryer for a couple minutes. When I look into the sunroom at Benjamin's cage, where the big drying rack is also, I see a fresh puddle of rabbit pee on the floor and rabbit pee sprayed all over the stairs, wall, carpet, and drying rack near his cage. It is from Maizie, the free ranging house rabbit, not Benjamin. That was the last straw. The little babe is manically trying to grab and get into everything, I have to roll up the big carpet, try to scrub everything down before she steps in it, I can't really turn my head to the right because it is so stiff and painful, and then the little babe starts crying and flipping out because she needs a nap right then. AAAHHH!
Just when I finished the floor and thought all was lost, help arrived.
Yes, the Green Goddess herself, delivered by my shining knight. I hate that I am addicted to this sugary hormone-filled non-organic milk corporate giant beverage. And I love that my husband feels the same way, yet was having an equally rough morning of his own and knew that it would make his day better and mine too.
So I'll raise a grande non-fat, no water hot chai latte to:
-Sugar making most stressful events better
-Husbands who treat their ladies right
-Little babes who are growing so fast and need their beauty sleep RIGHT NOW
-And the gift of a fresh start every morning to make it better than the one before
What makes your Manic Monday Mornings better?
**Unfortunately, I cannot say that this a sponsored post by Starbucks.