$16 Coffee and the Longest Night Ever

We don’t tend to drink much coffee around here. My 14-year-old son does sometimes, so we have some coffee somewhere in the house, but me? I might have it once a month. When I do, it’s usually a frappe from McDonald’s, a large one, $4.19 for pickup.

Well, today is fall break for my kids, and I’ve got six of them here four of mine and two extras (my two littles are still in daycare). I really didn’t want to load them all up in the car just to get a coffee, so I thought, let’s see what it would cost to get one delivered.

In my mind, I figured, maybe eight bucks. I was very, very wrong.

By the time all the delivery fees, small order fees, and tip were added, that single $4.19 coffee came to over $16. Sixteen dollars. For a coffee.

Holy moly.

I get that everyone in the process has to make money. The driver, the restaurant, the delivery service, but still. Sixteen bucks for a caffeine fix just felt ridiculous.

And of course, this all comes after the kind of night that makes coffee feel like a medical necessity.

My five-year-old woke up at 2:45 a.m. screaming with an earache, and we were up on and off until 7:30. It was awful. The kind of night that feels about three days long. By the time the doctors finally opened and I had his prescription in hand at 11:50 a.m., I’d been awake for nearly nine hours straight, most of it spent comforting, hugging, and trying not to cry right along with him.

He’s finally asleep on the couch now, full belly, medicine on board. And me? I’m sitting upright, barely, staring at my work reports and not even sure I understand the numbers anymore. The house looks like a tornado hit it, we’ve been moving furniture around to get kids into different bedrooms, so everything’s extra chaotic, and I can’t even bring myself to stand up and do something about it.

I might not even make it downstairs for that cup of tea I was promising myself. I’m that tired.

But at least I wrote this blog post. That might be the biggest accomplishment of my day.

And no, I will not be paying $16 for a coffee. There’s just no way.

If anyone wants to start a GoFundMe for exhausted moms and their caffeine habits, let me know.

Kristian

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Think of this as your reset button. Step away from the laundry, the schedules, the noise, and let me give you a day that’s about you. By the time you leave, you’ll have portraits that capture the version of yourself you want to remember forever.

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Kristian is a mom of six, Program Manager by day, active Professional Photographer by trade, and a big believer in finding beauty in the everyday chaos.

Life in our house is loud, messy and full of literally everything. Love, noise, laundry, laughter, and definitely could use a bit more grace. I'm happily married to my best friend, grounded in my Catholic faith, and fueled by five to six hours of sleep per night and adrenaline.

I try to find joy in the everyday — even when it's wild, because without the little bit of joy, this life would be unbearable. This space is for the moms in the middle of it all: the ones juggling family, faith, work, and wonder. The ones that need someone else's messy life to make their own seem better or somewhat normal. You're not alone, and you're doing better than you think.

Welcome to Six Sweet Smiles — where we celebrate the mess, the miracles, and everything in between.

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