Dinner at Dad's

Why has no one ever written a song about how much they love Monday mornings? If you’re a single Dad with kids in school, you probably have no idea either.  Shifting from the pace of the weekend, even with a schedule packed with soccer games, parties and mall outings, to the blur of activity between my 5:30 alarm and the car line,  I can hear Eric Clapton belting out the line ”Lord, have mercy! Lord have mercy on me” as I sit here. 

The trick to getting showered, shaved and ready for my day, waking up the kids, preparing their breakfast and lunch, and getting them into the car on time to drive across town and sit in the car line without a meltdown by anyone, especially me, is planning. Remember the 5 P’s of parenting:  Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.  With that in mind, here’s how I navigate through the typical Monday morning.

5:00 am – My alarm goes off.  I do not hit the snooze button, since I know that the real name of the button is “Have a Lousy Day”.

5:05 am - In the kitchen making coffee.  I’m going to need all of the help I can get, so I take my vitamins and make my own breakfast.  I also do about ten minutes of prayer and meditation to start my day.  Please remember to place the mask on yourself before assisting others.

5:30 am – Feed and walk the dog.  This is my morning workout.  If I don’t do it now, neither of us get to it later. 

6:00 am – I take my shower, shave and brush my teeth before first reveille for the kids.  This way, if the schedule gets thrown, I’m still ready.  See airline safety card instructions again, if you have further questions.

6:30 am – I wake up my oldest daughter.  She has claimed first dibs on the shower and I don’t interfere with negotiated settlements between competing nations and teenage girls.

6:31 am – I start making the kids lunches.  Each bag gets an ice-pack, a back of crackers, a dessert-like substance in a foil wrapper and a piece of fruit. 

6:35 am – I wake my oldest daughter again. I am told she is already up though she hasn’t moved yet.  I am not told this in the same tone that I was greeted at door when she was 5.  Let’s just leave it there.

6:36 am – Back to lunches.  Each girl gets a water bottle and a sandwich, or something like it.  Whenever we order pizza, I get an extra one, and individually wrap and freeze each piece.  The frozen pizza in a lunch bag defrosts by noon.  They also like fluffer-nutter sandwiches (recipe to follow soon), peanut butter and jelly, cream cheese and cucumber, and cheese quesadillas (recipe to follow as well).  Since cold cereal is always an option, and I only make eggs or pancakes if we are well ahead of schedule, I do lunch first, breakfast later.  Hot lunch days (when the kids eat the cafeteria lunch) are also good days for a hot breakfast.

6:40 am – Wake my oldest daughter again.  She is not grateful that I have her back on this one, but the third time is often the trick.

6:41 am – Continue making lunches.

6:45 am – Wake my youngest daughter.

6:46 am – Lay out breakfast.  I set up bowls for cereal, spoons, napkins, juice, and dry cereal. They get the milk and cereal themselves.  In the future, I will walk us through making a hot breakfast in 7 minutes.

6:49 am – Tell my youngest daughter that she is late.  (She is not, but the fear stimulates adrenalin production and she is out of bed in about 60 seconds).

The nine minute lag between wake up times allows for the fact that the girls share a bathroom, and a 16 year old takes longer to get ready for school than a 13 year old.  Adjustments in timing to be determined later.

7:10 am – Everyone is done with breakfast and have their backpacks ready to go.  By 7:15, we are off the driveway with plenty of time to make first bell, even with a little traffic.

7:15 am – I wake up.  It WAS a dream.  I hit the damn snooze button!  I shout at the top of my lungs, GET OUT OF BED, WE’RE LATE.

“They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday’s just as bad. Wednesday’s even worse.  And Thursday’s oh so sad.”