Define Normal

This morning I was all ready to compose a post stating the following: "We're back to normal, the kids are getting along relatively well again after the constant bickering in Boston, the impulsive behaviors are down to a dull roar, my blood pressure is subsiding to its typical near-comatose levels."

OK, OK. Revision. "We're back to normal, which these days seems to mean that the kids have assumed their roles of making threatening moves (Ian) to elicit blood-curdling screams (Eliza) and frustrated slaps (Caroline). And I, of course, have a headache."

But aside from all that, I'm struck again by how dependent we are on our morning routine. By "we," I mostly mean Ian, which reminds me of how the psychiatrist said that kids like him, appearances to the contrary, really do function best with a high degree of structure. In our house, that means that nothing happens before the Morning List is done. Really, this is one of my most successful areas of parenting. I may be totally deficient in a number of areas (making crafts, planning birthday parties, etc.etc.), but by golly, we do the Morning List. Here's how it works. Back in September, I wrote the following five steps out on a whiteboard in the hallway: 1- Eat breakfast and clear dishes [this is when we read our Bible story]. 2- Get dressed, and put away pajamas. 3- Brush Teeth. 4 - Feed pet. 5- Do morning chore (ask Mom). Ian and Eliza each had a magnetized, laminated picture of him or herself, which they'd move down the board as they finished each step.

Well, the list has worked wonders for Ian (Eliza, not so much). He just DOES it now, and knows that his computer time hinges on completing the list first. The chore is anything from helping empty the dishwasher to wiping off the kitchen table and counters to starting a load of laundry to vacuuming a room. Hurray! Maybe I need to do a list for our entire DAY.

Okay, not really. I couldn't handle that. But it IS cute to have Caroline run up to me on occasion and inquire in her 2-year-old voice, "Mom, what's my morning chore?"

Yesterday -- AFTER the Morning List, of course -- my Mother-in-law and I took my three kids plus two similar-aged nieces to the IMAX show at the Texas History Museum. Here was the best part. As she and I sat at the outdoor cafe munching on our caesar salads and watching five kids pretty much swing from the chandeliers around us (as I told my SIL when she picked up her kids later, "The children were very ENTHUSIASTIC about the museum"), I mentioned to her with a sigh that I'd had some rather wild and impulsive behavior to police during the recent trip. She sort of blinked at me and said, "But isn't that just how kids are when they're traveling?"

And for that, she earned big brownie points from this tired mama.