Well, I planned on posting Wonder Wednesday, but that went completely sideways. Then I WAS typing Talk It Out Thursday and literally fell asleep while typing it out…
So here we are.
Finally Freaking Friday.
Because apparently Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday all decided they needed to become one giant blog post. 😂
Let’s start with Wednesday.
Wednesday was supposed to be Wonder Wednesday, and I had this whole thing in my head about neurodivergence, behaviors, understanding our kids, and all the things that come with raising kids whose brains sometimes work a little differently.
Instead, Wednesday looked at my plans, laughed directly in my face, and said, “That’s cute.”
Kalli had a rough moment at school and apparently decided that the appropriate response was to throw hands.
Listen, I understand why she was upset. I understand that she felt frustrated. I understand that she wanted the toy back.
I do not, however, understand why her solution involved punching somebody. 😂
And that’s something I think is really important when we’re talking about raising children… especially in a house like mine where there’s a mix of both neurotypical and neurodivergent children.
Understanding the why doesn’t mean excusing the behavior.
I can understand why my child reacted the way she did and still teach her that we don’t hit people. Both things can be true.
And then there was Louie.
He got off the school van with bite marks on his face and arm.
Obviously, my first reaction was, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?
So I asked.
Thankfully, the driver explained what happened. The van carries a lot of children with different needs, and sometimes one of those kids has a moment. I don’t like seeing my kid come home hurt, but I also have enough awareness to know that it could just as easily be Louie having a really hard moment and hurting somebody else.
That’s the complicated part.
I don’t want to assume that someone intentionally hurt my child when there may be a completely different story behind it. But I also don’t want to receive a bruise, scratch, or bite with no explanation and just shrug it off.
Communication matters.
Safety matters.
And sometimes being a mom means asking questions even when you know the answers might not be simple.
I’m still thinking about whether I want to change Louie’s transportation and take him to school myself. I don’t have to make that decision right this second, but I do know that I’m going to keep paying attention and do what I believe is safest for him.
And then, because apparently Wednesday wasn’t busy enough, there was soccer.
An hour away.
Because of course there was.
And then the teams decided that after the actual soccer game, they should have a mini game too.
Because apparently we weren’t finished with Wednesday yet.
So instead of getting home at a reasonable hour, we got home around 10 p.m.
Kalli basically went straight to sleep.
Hudson and Louie still had homework.
Because children apparently do not care that Mom has been running around like a lunatic all day.
And somewhere in all of that, I was still supposed to be writing.
Thursday rolled around and decided it wanted to join the chaos.
I was up around 4:30 in the morning (after going to sleep pretty late) making coffee, getting clothes together, waking older kids up, getting them in the shower, dressed, fed, and ready.
The older boys had their bus at 7.
Hudson had his bus at 7:30.
Louie had his van at 7:55.
Kalli had daycare at 8.
I had work at 9.
Then Kalli needed to be picked up immediately after work at 2.
Landon needed to be taken to practice for 2:45.
Louie needed to be home from the van at 3:15.
My mom needed to be picked up at 4:20.
She needed to go to the store.
Schylar needed to be picked up from the house to be at practice for 5:45.
Landon needed to be picked up from practice at 6.
Then lightning decided Schylar’s practice needed to end early, which meant another change to the pickup schedule.
At this point, I am basically no longer just a mother.
I am a taxi service.
Chaos, Coffee, Kids, and Cab Service.
I’m pretty sure that’s what the blog should actually be called. 😂
And somewhere in the middle of all of this, I thought, Okay. Tonight I’m going to sit down and write Talk It Out Thursday.
I started typing.
And then I fell asleep.
WHILE typing.
Not after finishing.
Not after deciding I was too tired.
Literally while typing.
So if you’ve ever wondered what happens when you combine a ridiculous schedule, very little sleep, five kids, work, caregiving, transportation, homework, sports, and a brain that has decided it has had ENOUGH…
Apparently, you fall asleep with your computer on your lap while writing a blog post. 😂
Which brings us to Friday.
And honestly?
Friday gave me something I really needed.
A good day.
The person I’m caring for has had some really difficult days lately. There have been falls, weakness, questions about safety, and a lot of conversations about what is realistic and what isn’t.
And those things matter.
I take them seriously.
But I also don’t want caregiving to become a story where we only talk about everything that went wrong.
Because sometimes…
something goes really, really right.
Today, I stopped and picked up his favorite donuts.
When I brought them in, he immediately recognized them and said, “Those are my favorite!”
And that little moment made me smile.
Then I took him out to lunch.
Just lunch.
Nothing fancy.
But getting out of the house, sitting somewhere different, eating a meal, and feeling a little bit like a normal day again made him genuinely happy.
And then came the moment that really got me.
He got off the couch on his own.
No assistance.
After the kind of days we’ve been having, that was huge.
Was everything suddenly fixed?
No.
Does one good day mean there won’t be another hard day tomorrow?
Absolutely not.
But today was good.
Actually…
Today was amazing.
I even told the family that I wanted to make sure we highlighted days like today because yes, there are probably going to be more bad days than good days.
But that doesn’t mean we ignore the good ones.
We celebrate them.
We hold onto them.
We remember them.
Because caregiving isn’t just watching someone become weaker.
It’s also watching for the moments when they surprise you.
It’s the favorite donuts.
It’s lunch outside the house.
It’s hearing someone laugh.
It’s getting up off the couch when yesterday they couldn’t.
It’s the little pieces of normal that remind you that even in the middle of all the hard stuff, there is still life happening.
And then there’s Louie.
Because apparently this kid has decided that my emotional bandwidth needed a little more testing this week. 😂
On the way home from Schylar’s soccer game Wednesday night, it was way past Louie’s bedtime. He was tired, emotional, and generally done with the entire concept of being awake.
Out of nowhere, he burst into FULL-BLOWN tears.
“Mommy, I just want to let you know if you die, I’m going to miss you!”
Excuse me, sir?
😂
I wasn’t planning on dying anytime soon.
But thank you for the heads-up.
Apparently Louie has already started planning for my eventual demise while I’m sitting in the front seat trying to get everybody home.
And honestly, underneath the absolutely terrifying delivery, it was also incredibly sweet.
He loves me so much that the thought of losing me was enough to completely overwhelm him.
And then, because apparently Louie’s emotional range has no limits, today he came into the kitchen because he was hungry and thirsty.
I haven’t made it to the grocery store yet, so I offered him a bowl of dry cereal and a small carton of milk.
His response?
“Yes! Give me that milk or else I’m punching you in your tiny little face.”
I looked at him and said, “Listen, kid. I don’t negotiate with terrorists. Try again.”
He immediately responded:
“Oh, sorry. That milk, please.”
😂😂😂
BOYYYYYY.
You better watch yourself.
And honestly, that is Louie in a nutshell.
The kid who can say something that completely melts my heart one minute like when he got off the school van today…
“Mommy, I love this school. I hope I never have to leave this school.”
…and then threaten my tiny little face over a carton of milk the next.
But that first sentence?
That one meant more to me than he probably realizes.
Because last year was hard.
Really hard.
So hearing my kid come off that van, jump straight into my arms like he always does, and tell me that he loves his school and hopes he never has to leave…
That was one of those moments where I just stood there and thought,
Okay.
Maybe we’re doing something right.
There are still things I need to question.
There are still things I need to advocate for.
There are still emails that need to be sent and conversations that need to happen.
But there are also moments like that.
And I don’t want to overlook them.
And then there’s Kalli.
Kalli had a great day at school today, which I am VERY grateful for because apparently she has decided that her next life goal is becoming independently wealthy through the Tooth Fairy.
Some of her friends at school have already lost teeth.
Kalli has not.
And this has become a problem.
She keeps asking me if I can take her to the dentist so they can pull her teeth out, because apparently she would like to bring those teeth home, put them under her pillow, wake up the next morning, and collect her money.
I keep explaining that this is not quite how losing teeth works.
She remains unconvinced.
Apparently she has looked at the situation and decided that waiting for nature to take its course is inefficient.
So now we’re apparently trying to explain to a nearly-four-year-old that you cannot just cash out your teeth whenever you feel like it. 😂
And then, because apparently my children like to remind me that underneath all the chaos, they’re actually pretty damn sweet…
Something happened literally five minutes ago.
The dog slobbered on Kalli.
And Kalli absolutely LOST IT.
She started freaking out, crying and trying to get the slobber off of herself.
Louie came running into the kitchen to grab a paper towel so he could help clean her off.
And then he ran back into the living room while Kalli was still crying and yelled:
“Don’t worry, Kalli! Lucious is coming!”
😭❤️
Big brother to the rescue.
And THIS is the stuff I don’t want to forget.
Because yes, these kids drive me absolutely insane.
They argue.
They threaten me over milk.
They try to monetize their baby teeth.
They punch classmates.
They get bitten on school vans.
They stay awake when they absolutely should be sleeping.
They make me question every life decision I’ve ever made.
But then…
One of them runs to help another.
One jumps into my arms and tells me he loves his school.
One reminds me that he would miss me if I died, despite the fact that I have absolutely no intention of doing that anytime soon. 😂
And one little girl is apparently preparing to become the world’s youngest dental entrepreneur.
This is my life.
This is my chaos.
And somewhere underneath all the noise, the exhaustion, the driving, the homework, the sports, the caregiving, the emails, the appointments, the laundry, and the constant feeling that I am approximately three minutes away from losing my damn mind…
There is so much love.
Sometimes it looks like a hug.
Sometimes it looks like favorite donuts.
Sometimes it looks like a kid running into the kitchen for a paper towel because his little sister is covered in dog slobber.
Sometimes it sounds like:
“Don’t worry, Kalli! Lucious is coming!”
And sometimes it sounds like:
“Give me that milk or else I’m punching you in your tiny little face.”
😂
Parenthood is weird.
It’s exhausting.
It’s hilarious.
It’s messy.
It’s occasionally terrifying.
And somehow, it’s still the greatest collection of little moments I could ever imagine getting to live.
So maybe missing Wonder Wednesday and falling asleep during Talk It Out Thursday wasn’t exactly the plan.
But maybe that’s okay.
Because sometimes the best stories aren’t the ones we planned to write.
They’re the ones that happen while we’re just trying to survive the day.
And today?
Today had some pretty damn good moments.
Finally Freaking Friday, indeed. ❤️☕

Now excuse me while I shuffle my way off to a football game.