The Mom Stop: Welcome to the greatest show on earth – Monmouth Daily Review Atlas

It started with a lost soccer cleat.

On a busy morning early one Saturday, our house was in a tornadic disarray as my husband, two older kids and I searched the house thoroughly, looking for said soccer cleat. Under the bed. Behind the couch. In the laundry basket, and even in the backyard (we have two boxers, so you never know what ends up back there). But the search was to no avail; the cleat had disappeared.

Our oldest daughter, age 10, had a soccer game an hour away in exactly 90 minutes. We should have already left. Our middle child, our 8-year-old boy, meanwhile, had another soccer game in town at the exact same time.

As is all too common these days, on this particular morning, my husband and I were having to divide and conquer, as he was taking our two youngest children to our sons soccer game while I drove our oldest daughter to hers. Apparently, the cleats had been missing for quite a while, as my husband admitted that our son had been actually wearing his older sisters soccer cleats for at least a month. But now that they had games at the same time, the missing cleats became an issue.

I shrugged. He can wear his running shoes instead if he has to.

Are we THOSE parents, who are so disorganized he doesnt have his basic gear? my husband replied.

We have three kids and both my husband and I work full time. The fact that our kids are dressed, fed and make it to school and most of their after-school activities somewhat on time is no small feat in my book. Having three kids is like running a three-ring circus. Half the time, I feel like a clown juggling three balls while riding on an elephants back, praying that the loose tiger doesnt try to eat the elephant or that the flying trapeze artist doesnt land on me.

Life with kids is chaotic. Life with three kids is a balancing act and a juggling trick, all-in-one. Occasionally, a ball falls. A shoe drops.

After several minutes of searching, I give up and jumped in the minivan with our oldest daughter, leaving my other two kids and husband still searching at home. Its at that moment that I vowed to become more organized. I promised myself that Ill spend the rest of the weekend de-cluttering our home, cleaning out what we dont need and trying to make things easier to find. I want to be the kind of mom who is on top of everything all the time, a multi-tasker to can juggle and cook at the same time - someone like my mom.

I hurriedly pulled out of the driveway and hit the gas pedal, but only got about halfway to our stop sign when my daughter shouted I see the CLEATS!! There, half-hidden under the front passenger seat, were two dirty, untied, lime-green soccer cleats that reeked like a dead skunk. How we never saw (or smelled) them before is beyond me.

My daughter pulled them out, opened the van door and ran them back to the house, a huge grin on her face. She saved the day.

I did de-clutter the kids rooms and playroom later, at least to where it no longer looks like a bomb went off. But as for the rest of the house - well wait until we eventually move, whenever that may be. For now, at least we have the cleats.

Lydia Seabol Avant writes The Mom Stop for The Tuscaloosa News in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Reach her at lydia.seabolavant@tuscaloosanews.com.