Out of balance

Time seems like it's flying by. And no, it's not because I'm having fun.

Lately, it seems like the days are a swirl of school drop-offs and pick ups, housework, and homework. Normal everyday activities but for some reason, I feel overwhelmed and out of control. I wake up to find that I don't have pieces to their lunches (bread one day, juice another) which ends up with me just sending in lunch money. Library books, set out the night before are left forgotten on shelves. Homework lays forgotten until the morning it's due (Moe's but only because she only gets it once a week). School uniform pieces cannot be found. This week, we even forgot to put our garbage out.

And the battles. Oh my god, how and I going to survive their teenage years???!!! There's battles over who should clean the playroom and when. Bedrooms are a mess. I get them to clean it and next thing I know, it's a pig sty. Einey has to be the worst! At seven, her counter is a mass of pixos, Lego's, pens, pieces or papers and hair accessories. The floors have piles of clothes (which probably explains WHY we can't find uniform pieces), hair accessories, more Lego's, shoes (despite my pleas of leaving the damn things downstairs) and Webkinz. We'll go through and I'll help her put the stuff away and the next day, looks like a bomb went off in there. And she's so forgetful. I hate that she, with the most responsibility, also needs constant reminders. She's the oldest, yet the only one I have to worry about whether or not she's going to remember to bring her hat, mittens, lunchbox, homework, backpack home form school.

Einey and Moe just have toys all over. And clothes. I swear, if I have to pick up more clean clothes I may start tossing them out. They change their minds a million times each day. Or they try to wear dresses and skirts when its 15 degrees out. The toys, I expect out. And for awhile, they were doing great picking them up. Lately, not so great.

It seems, though that we've had a hard time adjusting to our normal routine after the school winter break. We slept late. The kids would wake up and go downstairs to play quietly, allowing me extra time in the morning to rest. They played well and put things away. So far, school has been irregular. Their first week back had delays and days off due to weather. And half days that were pre-scheduled. This week, so far, has been normal. But the kids, they're still tired. Mornings are filled with tears and outbursts ("I forgot my library book," "I hate pep squad," "I hate second grade," and "I don't want to go to school"). And trying to get them focused in the mornings have left me drained.

And to top it all off, yesterday I got hit with a nasty virus (I say virus, because it almost the same as what Husband had a few days earlier). I was volunteering in the classroom and suddenly, I had a migraine (and being my first migraine, it sucked.) and it also made me very nauseated. Husband, told me to lay down and let me sleep (with little interruptions) for four hours! Then when i finally ate something last night, I spent the rest of the night in the bathroom. It hit suddenly, but when I woke up this morning, I was fine. I'm tired and achy, but no where near what I felt yesterday.

I'm hoping that we can get back into the swing of a routine soon! Everything just feels so off.