Ragamuffins

I remember when Zack was born and I vowed that I would never become one of those moms whose children looked like they just escaped from an orphanage. You know the ones I mean, bedhead, holey clothing, completely mismatched, pajamas at the grocery store, flip flops in winter, etc.....

Zack was always clean and dressed in ironed clothing, matching socks and brushed hair and teeth. Then Derek came along, and soon after, Austin. And now we have Sydney.
Some things I hadn't counted on when I became a mother were:

1)After a couple kids there was no way to keep up on laundry. Every morning before school, I hear Zack call out, "Mom! There are no pants in my drawer!" "Okay, bud!" I call back. "Did you look in one of the fourteen thousand baskets of clean, partially folded laundry that are shoved back in the laundry room? Check there first!"

2)Kids eventually want to dress themselves. Just this morning I laid out some clothes for Austin and asked him to dress himself. He proceeded to put his clean shirt over his pajama shirt, (socks were put on inside out) and then his sweatshirt upside down, with the hoodie part covering his little backside. A common refrain in our house, is "Why does it have to match?" Always spoken after I tell Zack that he can not wear his plaid dress shirt with his striped track pants. I can only endure so much, after all.

3)Getting kids dressed takes time. Most moms are short on time. Usually I am just happy that everyone is dressed in something. You are wearing two different shoes to Costco? Fine, get in the car. You have meetings before Church sometimes and your husband who is in charge of dressing all the kids in your absence and bringing them to Church (might interject here that all the clothes, socks, shoes, etc. were laid out by the mother beforehand) but things were crazy and he brings your lovely baby girl to church in her PAJAMAS (true story) with her dress in the diaper bag. :) Forget brushing the hair of 3 little boys who will be wrestling all that hard work right out within minutes. I just keep their hair short.

4)You are always thinking, planning for what else you have to do. My mind is always racing, and I am not always paying attention when I am shooing my children to the car, and surprise! one has no shoes on. (Sometimes he leaves them in the car). When I discover this in the parking lot of the store, you make due with what you have on hand.

Being a mom is all about survival for me right now. (And for the last four or five years). The kids are (usually) clean, fed, LOVED, and happy. And that is all I care about. Sure, I see immaculately dressed and groomed children and think, awww, how cute. But it ain't gonna happen around here except on special occasions. Like Church, or Thanksgiving. :)