Chaos in the Backyard

This morning, like most mornings, started at 5 AM with me dragging myself out of bed to train for a marathon before the rest of the house wakes up. But instead of starting at 5, I was searching for my shoes. No matter where I looked, I couldn’t find them. Finally, with only a few minutes to spare before I had to change the run for the day, I found them….under winter bibs in my bedroom. By the time that the house should have been waking up, I needed it to hit snooze. My run wasn’t done yet and I was manipulating distance and time in my head and texting my husband, who works today, to wake up the youngest and have him eat breakfast because I was running (literally, ha) late. I was supposed to do some weight training this morning too, but that is now pushed to a late night weight sesh. The minute that the run is over, it’s time to go straight into mom mode…switching the clothes from the washer to the dryer, getting the oldest boy up, bookbags double checked and packed, school clothes on, face/teeth/hair done, and everyone out the door on time. 

Luckily, this was a morning my husband was able to get the little up and going while I felt like I was falling apart on the treadmill. I’m so grateful that he was home and able to help carry the load. Every six weeks he switches from day to night shift and it’s full on survival mode over here.

Then my morning morphed into the ultimate challenge of let’s not hit any traffic or construction detours to get two boys to two different schools across town from each other before heading to my school, where I will spend my day teaching middle school resource room science and social studies, planning PBSIS end of year activities, and trying to make middle schoolers believe they can do hard things (especially after state testing), even though I’m thinking about my schedule for today and tomorrow and still trying to convince myself of the same thing.

After my department meeting scheduled for today after school, the second shift (or what I like to call my 9th life) will start. 

There will be kids to pick up, animals to feed, snacks to pack, a practice to get to, dinner to cook (tonight is salmon, yum!), laundry to finish, a camper to pack (groceries/clothes/race gear), a workout to finish, and quality time to spend before crashing on the couch and making my way to bed. 

Depending on the season, a typical evening might include:

• feeding the horse before dark and then again after dark
• collecting eggs from the chickens
• tending to the goat, sheep, and pig
• soccer practices
• backyard dirt bike riding
• collapsing on the couch for what we call a “mommy sandwich” between my husband and the boys.

Honestly? I wouldn’t trade this life for anything.

It’s loud here. I’m sure someone will be yelling: me, one, or both boys.
It’s messy here. The Roomba hopefully will clean the floors, but I wish it would clean the counters, pick up the toys, and do the dishes. Boys will be dirty and laundry will need to be finished. We will most likely be late to something or everything.
There are muddy shoes/boots/cleats by the door, stuff everywhere, and usually at least one thing I forgot to prep for dinner.

But there’s also laughter, boys running to me at pick up with a hug that makes the world right, late night cuddles when the little climbs in bed with us, boys laughing in the backyard while I pack up the camper for race weekend, little boys who are growing up way too fast, and the kind of memories I know we’ll miss someday when everything is less loud, less messy, less chaos. 

That’s really what Chaos in the Backyard is all about.

Just real life happening in our backyard – in the best way.

And if your life feels a little chaotic too, you’re probably going to fit in just fine around here.