It's a Struggle

I think up until today I've made fostering seem like a piece of cake when it's really been a struggle. Today I've felt that struggle more keenly than ever. Here's a sample of my day with all four children. In the morning, I'm trying to get ready (shower, clothes, makeup, breakfast, pack lunch) and Colby wants his formula while Noah and Ariyana want juice. Somehow I end up getting them their various drinks, I eat breakfast while I'm giving Sahara a bottle, I get them dressed and out the door sometime befor 7:40 (even though every day I'm shooting for 7:30). I drop of Noah, Ariyana, and Sahara while Colby waits in the car, then I drop off Colby at his daycare and then I go of to my internship at a nearby elementary school. Fastfoward through school (which is going okay, except for 4th block when I want to strangle someone...not a good way to end my day). I got pick up Colby, then I take Colby inside the other daycare while I collect the other three, then I herd them into the car and drive home. If I'm lucky the boys keep their hands to themselves and nobody ends up crying and I get to sing a few songs at the top of my lungs to relieve some stress. Then when we get home everyone is thirsty and hungry and they want to watch a movie or cartoons and I just want to lock myself in a sound-proof room for ten minutes. The boys fuss with each other and constantly jump on their beds even though I've told them a million times not too and they've spend tons of minutes in timeout for jumping on the bed, which makes it take that much longer to fix dinner. Dinner is usually not too bad thanks to the food in my freezer and a little ingenuity on my part. They are at least quieter when they're stuffing their faces with food, which they rearly say thank you or please for. Then I play referee for the rest of the night and listen to small voices whine, complain, cry, tattle, and ask questions until I can't stand it anymore. They are good for maybe 20 percent of the night. Ariyana is good, but frustrating because she doesn't use words. It's a guessing game as to what she wants. Sahara is good too, but when she's hungry that makes it difficult to keep an eye on those boys like I need to. At bedtime it's a battle with those boys. I want them to be asleep by 8:30, but they use every excuse in the book to stay awake. Bottom line: I really love all my kids, but damn do they drive me crazy. And I now I know I'm not anywhere close to patient enough to have twins. There's a more realistic view of having three foster kids or four kids in general. I hope you're not too horrified :-)