How to get through it: Inhale, Exhale, Repeat

Today was a beating, and, as I pulled into my driveway at 5:45pm, I took a deep breath and made a concentrated effort to will myself into a second wind. I made dinner, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, instructed a certain boy to redo his messy homework, broke up fights, had to insist every 2 minutes that 2 of them stay in the playroom and clean up their mess, and then, when we were eating, as usually happens, one boy (it's usually more of them) informed me that "I hate this dinner so much"... and even when it was going on 8pm and Jose still wasn't home, and I was cycling boys in and out of the shower while cleaning up the kitchen and breaking up more fights, I still have this ever present feeling of being fortunate and I just. keep. breathing. in. and. out. Because what else can you do?

​One day this calamity will be a memory. And it'll be so quiet. Much too quiet.