“Are you going to stay home today?” The hope in his voice gave away where this questioning would lead.

“No. And neither are you, or your brother, or your sister. We are all pulling it together and getting on with the day,” she declared. She stood up and went to drag Ryan and Paige out of bed. “Go pick something to wear out of the washer and put it in the dryer.”

Cameron, giving up any last hope that he might spend the day at home playing video games instead of at school, slumped his shoulders and moved like a snail toward the laundry room. “You know, class starts in two minutes,” he called back to her.

“Just keep moving,” Eileen yelled back. “Faster.” Her own slippered feet raced up the stairs. “Paige! Ryan!”

An hour later, and after a frantic search for her car keys, which were eventually found in the sink of the downstairs bathroom, Eileen herded the last of her kids out the front door.

“I forgot my ID,” Ryan said, rushing back inside the house.

Eileen closed her eyes and took a breath. Something was wrong with her… It simply wasn’t this hard to get three kids to school and herself to work. She knew it. Every day, millions of families all over the world seemed to pull this off, on time.

Ryan finally came barreling back down the stairs, “Got it!” he said as he raced out the door. Eileen remembered to close the front door and lock it—something that hadn’t happened yesterday.

She adjusted her tote and camera bags on her shoulder, leaning to counterbalance the weight, and pressed the unlock button on the key fob several times as she walked down the porch steps. When she rounded the edge of the house and could see the drive, she was surprised to see all three of her children, not inside her car waiting for her, but standing next to Eric’s car.

Paige was pulling a large manila envelope from underneath one of the wiper blades on the windshield.

What is going on? Where is my car? Hasn’t Eric already left for work? Then it hit her—their fight, her assignment for him. “Will you please take my car and get the oil changed?”

Ryan snatched the envelope from Paige and turned away from her, protecting the prize. “I’m opening it. It’s probably for me!”

“I’m expecting something,” Paige countered, trying to snatch the envelope back.

“I saw it first.” Ryan clutched the envelope to his chest, his body turning and twisting against his sister’s every attack attempt.

“Mom?” Cameron asked. “Can I open it? Please?”

They were about to get into a fight—a real one. She could practically smell kid fights rushing in, seconds before someone shoved just a bit too hard, initiating a return strike that actually hurt, leading to a defensive kick—running, arms flailing.