When my brother was in kindergarten, he went through a phase of being mean right after school. When I asked him why he was being so mean, he said, “because it is in the mean time.”

I am not sure where he got the idea that after school was the meantime, but I am guessing someone happened to use that phrase at that time of day. Since becoming a mother, I have realized that he wasn’t far off the mark.

For some reason, everything seems to go chaotic at my house around 5 pm each day. It is that time of day when I am trying to get supper on the table while trying to manage 5 children who seem to have an abundance of energy all of the sudden. You never know what will get added on top of that. Here is what happened “in the meantime” today.

Just before supper three kids decided to get themselves water. After two of them dropped their whole cup on the floor and another left a little yellow puddle at her feet, I decided to mop the floor. About the time I got the mop out, another cup of water hid the floor. Needless to say our floor was pretty wet.

When I was about half done mopping, I went to ask a question of my mom and sister, who were on the porch. When I was done, the dog decided to come in with me. Right after coming in I did a double take at the dog and found myself saying, “no, not on the floor!” It was at this time that I yelled across the house, “If anyone else wants to pee or spill water on the floor, now is the time!”

Of course, no one was in the room with me and could not see my face, so I stuck my head out the door so they could see my smile. At least I was still smiling, right?

I am curious. Do any of you experience that time each day when you find it very difficult to keep your cool? If so, how do you handle it? Take a minute to share.