We did it! Now I'm tired

Well, I got by for almost a week and a half, but it finally happened. Cort was out of town today, and I had to take Will and Helen with me when I dropped Charlie and Joseph off at school. That means that we had to get all four kids ready to leave on time, park a couple of blocks away, walk the two traffic-filled blocks to school, walk down the incredibly crowded hallway, drop the boys in their respective classes, and go back out the school and the two blocks back to the car -- all without losing anyone or, hopefully, having any meltdowns.

And, we did it! I got up at 6am, having already showered last night, and was fully ready by 6:30. Then I went downstairs and got breakfast completely ready, fed myself, and fed the dogs. At ten minutes till 7, I got all the kids up early. Everyone got dressed before breakfast. I set the parameters: at 7:18 the kitchen is closed and nothing else will be given for breakfast, at 7:25 breakfast is over and everyone goes upstairs to brush teeth and hair, at 7:35 we are getting into the car. And guess what -- we ended up loading into the car at 7:34! Woo hoo!

We also spent all of breakfast talking about how exciting it was that Will and Helen get to go see Charlie and Joseph's new school, how we have to hold hands all the way there because there are a lot of people and cars, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum. I spent lots of energy building this up.

When we got to school, I got Will out first because he is great about staying put when asked. So, I had him sit down on the curb where we parked. Charlie got out, got his backpack, and joined him. Followed by Joseph and his backpack. Then I got Helen out. Of course, she had to join them too, so she sat down on the curb for 5 seconds, then we were off!

All five of us held hands all the way to school. Me-Will-Charlie-Helen-Joe. We blocked more than the entire sidewalk. We went inside the school, and Will and Helen seemed a bit disappointed not to be able to go into the classrooms, but they were very good about it. We dropped Joseph off, then Charlie, both on time, and then the three of us held hands all the way back to the car. Success!!

Now I'm at work, and I'm totally exhausted due to the energy expended preparing for and making this happen. How the heck can I be expected to practice law for the rest of the day?