The morning rush

There is a time of day that I like to call “the morning rush.” It has nothing to do with roads or red lights and everything to do with traffic. It’s a time when five people are scurrying around our home trying to remember everything and still make it to some location on time. Now imagine what happens when just one thing changes during the morning rush…

Just a couple of weeks ago, a letter came home from my daughters' school asking them to dress up as their favorite character from a book to celebrate and encourage all of the wonders of reading. For about a week I asked them repeatedly, "Do you want to dress up?” Their answers were the same every time, “no.” I would follow up with another question just in case, “What would you like to be?" Again, their answers would be the same each time, "nothing." So I gave up!

On the morning of the big event, my six-year-old woke up and came down the stairs with a book in her hand. She said, "Mommy, I know what I want to be. I want to be Black Beauty." My nine-year-old, who was not far behind, added, "I think I'll be Junie B. Jones." I held my breath for a moment and turned a shade of panicky red. I said, "So let me get this straight, with less than an hour before you have to leave for school and I have to go to work, we have to come up with costumes for Black Beauty and Junie B.?" They stared back at me with puppy dog eyes and a wave of guilt came over me.

Before I knew it, I was watching the news, reading my emails, sifting through the newspaper, packing lunches and running around the house looking for anything that would work for their costumes. I turned fuzzy Mickey Mouse ears into horse ears with needle and thread and punched out the lenses of old 3-D glasses to create a Junie B.!

Without a moment to spare, I went to work feeling like a marathon runner who finished in last place. Our Black Beauty left for school looking like a kitten. And Junie B. ended up more like something from “Revenge of the Nerds!”

It was all in a morning's work and the rest of the day was yet to come. Yes, this was a morning rush to remember.