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The Fantasy

Do you ever fantasize about what your life could be?  I do.  In my fantasy, I wake up after a decent night's sleep of 8-9 hours.  Upon awakening, I am filled with energy to start my day, so I have no trouble immediately getting out of bed and starting my day with a nice, warm - uninterrupted - shower where I can leisurely take my time shampooing, conditioning, scrubbing, and shaving.  I then have plenty of time to not only dry my hair, but also style it and put on my makeup.  Then, the perfect outfit automatically pops out of my closet, and I don't have to squeeze, stop breathing, or wear shapewear or push-up anything to make myself look good in this outfit.

As I finish dressing for the day, I come out of my room to find that my two children are also well-rested and excited to start the day - as evident by the fact that they dressed themselves in both weather-appropriate and occasion-appropriate clothing (they remember not to wear flip flops on PE day and that it's cold outside so shorts just won't do).

Because my children recognize just how hard and busy it is to be a mom, they've also neatly begun breakfast preparations.  There is no crying over (literal) spilled milk.  In fact, they even remembered to shut the refrigerator door because they know that leaving it open wastes energy and makes the food go bad.  As I come down to assist with any further breakfast needs, I'm taken aback with pleasure as I see that they have so lovingly made me breakfast (including coffee), too.  They even remind me that they used the last of the bread while they were packing their own lunches and that I will need to pick some up at the grocery store so that they can make their lunches again tomorrow.

They kindly - and politely - sit at the breakfast table talking about how they remembered to do all of their homework (including the Common Core math homework that they didn't have to ask me for help with because they know I don't understand it).  They tell me that they have remembered to put everything back in their backpacks and that I don't need to worry about searching for their shoes because they've already set them by the front door so that they can quickly make it out to the bus stop.

As we sit enjoying our breakfast, we are each filled with such joy at the pleasure of sitting - unrushed - together at a table as a family.

As my children check the clock, they realize that they have just enough time to rinse their dishes and put them in the already emptied dishwasher.  However, they do remind me that they will need my help putting away a couple of the dishes because they cannot quite reach those high shelves yet and didn't want to stack things on top of the bar stools because they understand that this is dangerous.

My children so lovingly grab their coats, bookbags and shoes and give me a hug and a kiss.  One child walks herself - early - to the bus stop while the other gets himself into the car - seatbelt buckled by himself - for their trips to school.

There is no yelling, screaming or whining.  There is only calm and serenity.

As I climb into the car to drive one child to school and watch as the other gets on the bus, I am filled with a great amount of joy and happiness as I realize just how pleasant my life is.

After all, my husband decided to take the day off so that he could deep clean the house and organize all of the kids' toys, garage and attic.  He also scheduled a full day at the spa for me.

What more could a mother ask for?


Then, I remember, this is only a fantasy.

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