Lunch Hour.

11:30- sitting on the couch with Mikey, just reading my book and “nice scratching” his head.

11:39-12:35- With the arrival of the lunchtime bus, the girls were home for lunch and Des woke up from his nap and I suddenly had 5 times as many kids as I had a moment before, standing in the same 2 square feet as me as I tried to prep lunch. Spaghetti everywhere, meatballs everywhere, one kid playing with dominoes while another three play “what time is it mr wolf” up and down the hallway. The dog barking incessantly, wanting to be let out for a pee. Baby yelling from his high chair, letting me know he’s had enough lunch. It’s loud. Boisterous. Frenetic.

12:37- Sitting on the couch again, nursing the baby while Mikey plays quietly at my feet.

And to think when we first came to Quebec I thought “oh, how nice! The kids get to come home at lunchtime! How quaint! Who gets to do that anymore?”

The reality of it is a bit different. Feel like I’ve got whiplash from the last hour.

(Although in all honestly it can be kind of nice sometimes .)