Coffee: Cami's Cure-all for kids, chaos, and Caillou

So this is my hot Friday night, blogging on the laptop on the couch while attempting to get the middle boys to fall asleep while watching “Caillou” for the millionth time today.  I have a love/hate relationship with the on demand feature of fios.  Finally was able to get Bart to give in and fall asleep.  A.J. and Josie are at their first Daddy/Daughter Dance.  I texted A.J. a couple minutes ago to ask how it was going and he texted back that he had just finished chatting with our pastor “while Sexy and I Know It was playing”.  Then he added that Father Jim was out doing the jersey pump with some of the older girls from the school.  And because I am so old and out of touch, I tried to google what the jersey pump is and this was a huge mistake as the first definition to pop up was from the urban dictionary and it was NOT describing the dance move. 

Today was a good day.  Chaotic and crazy and hectic, but good.  It was a Friday so no matter how slow the day could have gone, there was always that glimmer of hope….Hope from knowing that my partner in battling these beasts of children will be home to help for two straight days.  I woke up excited to be meeting with some of the other kindergarten moms for coffee.  Adult conversation equals pretty damn awesome in my book.   A friend was also bringing her two younger kiddos so I decided to bring Jimmy and Sawyer along with me and Bart.  Now everyone knows that my natural time clock is always running about 10 minutes late, give or take.  Add to this pulling the two older boys away from some fascinating “Caillou” episode.  Yes, that’s right, we started and are now ending our day with “Caillou”.  On top of this, add the baby having a blow out just as we were two steps from the front door and he was packed snuggly in his carseat.  Finally in the Gray Goose and off, praying that these people will at least still be chatting by the time we get there.  Fly into the Panera parking lot, unload the goonies and put Bart’s carseat into the snap n go base and race in to meet these ladies.  Jetting through the restaurant to their table I feel like we are this whirl of commotion, sort of like a tornado breezing through.  Only this tornado has a couple pairs of grubby little hands that are just inches away from other customers’ tables and hot coffees.  We get to the table and it is always that initial sensation like I have been carrying about ten large loads of laundry in my arms and have just plunked it down on the seats.  Ah I can breathe.  The woman who organized the get together stands and introduces herself and I actually give her a huge hug.  I am a hugger by nature, but really at this moment, it was kind of like, “Halleluia! We made it!  We’re here!  This is so exciting!  I don’t get out of the house much.” I try to casually escape to the food counter to get my coffee and stuff for the boys, but Jimmy stays glued to me.  Sawyer notices we are gone and bolts for me.  One of the other moms makes sure I see him clambering towards me around the tables.  Gather our goods and go back to the table to join in the conversation.  It was wonderful to be with a group of ladies who really get me and my life.  Their lives aren’t exactly like mine- not many peoples’ are.  But they know.  They know that while I often seem like a bit of a loon, I am trying and I am real and genuine.  My kids are my life right now, but there are other parts to me too.  And I got to talk a bit about those parts too.  Granted, I may have been talking a bit fast which can be attributed to the fact that this is my second helping of coffee for the day.  And my portion control can best be described as a lack of control.  I was not quite to the jittery point, but I may have given one of the other women a synopsis of my career life in a two minute span which is pretty much impossible since I have held so many jobs in my pre-mom life.  Despite my spastic conversation style I could really relax with these ladies.  By relax, I mean, just chill out and not freak out that the kids were being disruptive.  Maybe it was the glorious coffee coma I was in or it was just the way my new found friends step in when needed.  One held Bart when he was getting fussy so I could hold Sawyer on my lap.  Another saved my coffee from Sawyer’s tight grasp after he had swigged a few gulps down.  Side note: I blame Sawyer’s coffee affection on my mom and my mother-in-law, both of whom have found it funny in the past to give him a little taste.  Now whenever I have a mug of coffee near him, he dips his hand right in and licks the coffee off.  Jimmy stayed entertained with his army men and played a bit with my friend’s son.  The kids may have been scattered around other tables or under our table, and Sawyer may have been standing and staring at the women at the table next to us(for about five minutes before I noticed), but at least they were quiet for the most part.   Success!  I have gotten to know some of these friends even better and also made a couple new friends.