Mama said there'd be days like this ...

So .... I leave my office at 2:30pm to pick up Owen at his elementary school and Alex at his preschool. Bill and I have been taking turns biking the boys to and from school. This seemed like a somewhat better idea before I had to do it in a bike helmet, dress clothes, and heels, but I try not to think about how ridiculous I must look. Owen's pick-up goes smoothly, but Alex is, very uncharacteristically, sobbing when I walk in. My best guess is that his teacher asked him to sit with the other kids for storytime and this made him worry that I might not be picking him up when he was expecting me. I calm him down and mention, as we're biking home, that we might try a different pick-up routine that would allow me to get him a bit earlier. Because this would make biking home with Owen tricky, Owen bursts into tears just as we ride past a large group of new, first-year college students. They stare. We get home and I start to make the boys a snack. Meanwhile, Owen is assembling ingredients for an "experiment". His concoction of vinegar, baking soda, baking powder, glycerin, and a tic tac (I wasn't paying attention ... ) explodes all over the counter and the floor. I wipe it up while the boys start eating. Owen promptly knocks over his cup, splattering milk across the table, the floor, and all three of our book bags. As we begin wiping that up, Alex (who has commenced train play in the next room) yells "I have to go to the the bathroom!" and comes running through the kitchen. He slips and falls on the wet floor and starts sobbing. Again. I get everyone calm and the kitchen and bags clean-ish. I try to help Owen with his homework while playing trains with Alex, doing a poor job at both. Owen's first-grade teacher has decided that he should work on more challenging spelling words. I think this is a lovely idea in theory but, in practice, asking Owen to rehearse spelling words like "enormous" and "weigh" and "couple" after a long school day and in addition to his other homework makes him (and me) want to cry most days. Luckily, Owen is a trouper today ... and we have a gloriously uneventful evening!