Sunday morning picture

There's a hot cup of tea -- a big one -- nearby, my lifeline to waking up. The day is grey and rainy, but the inside is warm and light ... if only because in waking, my preschooler turned on every light in the house. He hasn't stopped talking since he woke up, just past seven -- it's now over an hour later. The baby, awake in the night a few times, woke later, but is now enjoying a romp in the neglect-o-saucer. Every morning it's the same -- the baby, the preschooler, and the cat all clamouring for attention, all needing THIS, and RIGHT NOW and it's a wonder that I stay sane with that amount of sensory stimulation so soon after waking up.

Hence the tea.

There's yogurt and mango and muffins for breakfast, a kitchen to clean, children to bathe, laundry to do, a freezer to tidy, toys all over the living room, and bookshelves to organize, but for the moment there's tea, and all the shrieks, yowls, and words float on by, swirling chaos around my head, while I am still.