Happy Hour?

Okay, I'm sure that I am not the only mom in America that hates the hour between 5pm and 6pm.  Of course, that's during the summer.  During the school year the most hated hours are from 4pm to 6pm.  These times may vary from home to home depending on the most common time that you try to have dinner ready and the time that your kids get home from school.For me, my oldest gets home from school right about the same time that the other two get up from their naps.  Certainly, everyone is wanting a snack, and I struggle very much with giving snacks this late in the day because I don't care how many promises are made, if I give snacks there will be no dinner eaten that night.  That is primarily with Jackson.  It never fails.  Middle of the day.  Jackson begins begging for food.  I tell son that he doesn't need to eat because dinner is not that far away.  He insists that starvation is near and if he does not get some food, he may in fact die.  I tell near death child that if he eats snack and does not eat dinner that death will in fact be closer than he thinks.  Dinner comes.  He takes 3 bites and says, you guessed it...he's just not hungry. And, it's usually followed by the reason being that his stomach just hurts.  Never fails...every time. We at this point have to give him a number of bites to eat of each thing before he may live!! But basically snacks have been cut out in the middle of the day so there is ALOT of whining about needing them.  So, also during this time we are trying to do homework.  I am trying to help Jackson do his homework while trying to maintain some sense of order with the constant...uhm...circus that takes place in my house.  To add some more fun while all of this is going on, this is also the time that I am trying to prepare and cook dinner so that sometime close to 6pm we can eat.  Now I understand that during the summertime, you can cut out the homework stuff.  But everyday, we still have the 5:00-6:00pm.  So if you read this here are some helpful tips for you that will in turn help me.  Please do not come by my house at this time.  I may not come to the door, not because I don't like you, but because I quite possibly can not hear you at the door and/or I can not get to the door because of circus paraphernalia lying around.  Second, do not attempt to call me during this time.  Chances are that I will not be able to hear what you are saying on the phone anyway or have any type of intelligent conversation.  Instead, spend this time in deep, intense prayer for me and every mom out there who is probably spending their "Happy Hour" the same way that I am.