If you happen to catch me driving to work on a typical Monday morning, chances are you saw the real me. The one who drives her kids to school in hot rollers.

Yes I am THAT mom.

I do take them out before walking into work. I’m not that crazy. But it seems no matter HOW early we wake up, or HOW much we prepare the night before… we always seem to be scrambling to get out of the house in the morning. And getting myself ready comes last.

I would love to be one of those moms who wakes up two hours before her kids, dresses for work (and does her hair- which in my case means blow-drying it out for 30 minutes, then putting hot rollers in to manage the frizz), makes a hot breakfast lovingly served on the kitchen table, while leisurely reading the morning news and sipping a perfect cup of coffee.

Just Stop It.

Seriously. Who are these moms? Are they real? And if so, can you come to my house and show me HOW to do this?

Because it is NOT HAPPENING in our world.

Not now, and not when my girls were little. In fact, it seems as those our mornings are even crazier now that my girls are older and have more activities.

I’m not sure when things will slow down and get less crazy.

Okay, I get it. Families have a lot going on in the morning, between waking up and pouring a bowl of Rice Krispies, there is a never ending list of things that JUST HAPPEN. And no amount of preparedness can change this.

Believe me, I love to be organized. I talk to the girls (and my dear hubby) about time management ALL THE TIME. I post our weekly dinner menus on the fridge, shop for said menu early in the week, pack lunches with the girls the night before, iron outfits in the middle of the night and basically cross off as much as I can off our “To Do” list before bedtime and yet… I still find myself driving every other morning to work with hot rollers on my head.

I would love to have a leisurely weekday morning where there is no yelling, no rushing, no searching for a left sneaker five minutes before the bell rings because we can’t find it which “I swear was in the porch last night”…

So I calmly put down my brush, grab a sweater and head downstairs to dig under the bench to find lost sneaker, and head to the car. Because of course only Mom can find it. (Okay that’s a joke. There is no calm. I am probably yelling.)

I had a dream the other night that I woke up on a random Wednesday to find my family all dressed and homework done and no one calling or needing me. Not even for a missing shoe or water bottle. I actually had time to do my hair and put on makeup! And TAKE OUT the rollers before driving to school and work.

Then I woke up. Plugged in my hot rollers and began the day.

I honestly think I would miss some of the craziness if we didn’t have noise and rushing yelling in the morning. (Okay, that is not 100% true, just partly. I do love our mornings – just not the yelling part. Or the rushing part.) But one day all too soon I know there will be too much quiet. And l will miss it.

So if you see a crazy lady wearing hot rollers at school drop off or driving on I-84E, please wave and give me the thumbs up. Or feel free to laugh. Because honestly I will laugh right along with you. And hopefully I’m not the only mom yelling and rushing and driving in hot rollers.