I was listening to my favorite radio station this morning and heard an interesting piece of Mother’s Day trivia. Apparently, they had conducted a survey among mothers, asking what they would like most for Mother’s Day. The answer at first seemed a bit odd to me, “Quiet time alone in the bathroom.” Within a few seconds though, I was in total agreement; not because we have 11 people living in our home, although that is a factor. My husband and I have our own private bathroom connected to our bedroom, so I should be able to have private time when I am there.

The youngest children always wake up hungry around 6:30AM. My routine has been to bring them downstairs, feed them breakfast, feed the baby a bottle, and then get them dressed. Then I wake up the older children. While they are getting their breakfasts, I run upstairs and take a quick shower. I really do mean a quick shower; I am usually not upstairs for more than 10 minutes. I would like to take my time and relax, but that hasn’t been possible for years.

Everyday the same routine occurs and I am at a loss about how to change it.
Just as I step into the shower, a child barges into my bathroom crying, even though I just left them not more than two minutes ago, happily eating breakfast. It never fails, either somebody hit the crying child or there was name-calling or condescending jokes about the child’s anatomy or intelligence. Five minutes later another child sulks in with a similar story. By the time I fly downstairs, everyone is upset and the house is in chaos. I try to get to the “bottom” of each story, but everyone has a different version. This happens every single day, which is why I rush through my shower so quickly.

I’ve tried begging them to behave. I’ve tried bribing them and threatening them; nothing seems to make a difference. For the past week, I’ve been turning on the monitor so I can listen to everything they are saying, while I’m upstairs. This has actually been quite beneficial in a couple of ways. I have about a 30 second warning that a crying child is about to barge in and I know the details of the incident. Therefore, I don’t have to ask any of the children what happened; I just dole out the consequences. They haven’t realized yet, that I am monitoring them.

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