An Ordinary Life

I think the most difficult transition, besides becoming a mom for the first time, was going from three to four. I was constantly counting heads and double checking if everyone was in the van. I feared leaving someone behind or forgetting something that I needed for them. I have older children that are very helpful which makes my job much easier. I actually regret when my older two are not with me at the grocery store because then I can’t send them after the items I forgot or have them take their little brother to the restroom.

I fretted over how I would be able to manage before each child was born. How would we go shopping, when would I be able to take a shower, sleep, get my haircut, cook, clean? It all seemed so impossible and yet when the baby arrived we all managed to adjust and keep moving forward. Sometimes, I think I’m even more organized now than I ever was before I had three kids and started to homeschool. I would never have imagined I was capable of juggling so many kids and activities and now it just seems like an ordinary life.

April writes about her life at April Showers

The Big Question

One of the questions other parents seem to ask me a lot has to do with family dynamics. Specifically, moms of one or two want to know, "How on earth do you manage all of those kids? How can you manage so many? I'm barely hanging on with the one I have, I can't imagine adding another!"

All of us have thought that, at any one time. For most of us, there was a peak, a moment when adding the latest kid just made the balance off kilter and out of whack. When you have your first baby, it's all new and all different and strange and you are learning to be a mom. Diapers are weird, breast or bottle? consumes your brain, and you can't fathom how anyone could ever do this more than once. Adding a second is difficult, in that you can no longer devote one on one attention to your beloved first born, but must now split. When you add a third, you move from man to man into zone defense. And so on and so on. Which step was the hardest for you? What about those who added entire sibling groups, some times more than once?

For the next two weeks, follow us as we attempt to answer this and share what has worked for us, as we have experienced the dreaded "Transition Woes", in more ways than one.

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When she's not folding socks or driving carpool, Carmen can be found drinking coffee and furiously blogging about her life with six kids over at Mom to the Screaming Masses and her weight loss and exercise at The Elff Diet

My Day

After a gazillion years of mediocre Mother's Days, I've finally given up on my original fantasy-- you know the one where everyone waits on you hand and foot and all you do is smile pretty and give out hugs all day. Letting go of the idea of Mother's Day perfection has made me a kinder and happier woman.

It also made it possible for me to merely smile when right after church on Mother's Day, my 2 year old and my 5 year old ATE every Hershey's kiss that *I* spent half an hour helping them paste onto MY Mother's Day card two hours earlier during Sunday school. No, I'm not bitter. Well, maybe I am. But just about the purple Kisses. They were DARK chocolate, after all.



Giving up on the fantasy also made it possible for me to be utterly surprised and delighted when my oldest presented me with an adorable apron later in the day. My five year old insisted on putting her apron on so that we could be matching. I also got a lovely assortment of hand-made cards, and many, many extra hugs.

Oh, and you'll be glad to hear that some chocolate did escape the little fingers of my chocolate-loving little kids. Linder balls. I hid them in a very very secret place, and I am sad to report that they were all eaten (by me) by Tuesday. Now that's what I call chocolate.

My Separate Mother's Day

Ever since I became a mom I’ve looked forward to Mother’s Day. I envisioned a leisurely day where I got to sleep in and my husband took care of the childcare duties. I would spend the first half of the day doing whatever I wanted and the rest of the day would be spent doing fun family activities. For six years I’ve looked forward to this type of day and it never happened.

You see, I’m very fortunate to still have my grandmothers, my mother and my mother-in-law with us. Therefore, Mother’s Day is always a busy day of family gatherings honoring these cherished women in our family. The last few years my father-in-law has been thoughtful enough to plan a brunch for my MIL, SIL and I and put the men in charge of the food, which has been very nice. Although it still ends up being a very busy day. Usually what happens is we go to an earlier-than-normal church service to fit in all of the day’s festivities (there goes sleeping in). My husband, as organized as he tries to be, is always getting his mom’s gift (and my gift from the kids) the morning of (looks like another typical day where I get the kids fed, bathed, dressed, etc.). The rest of the day is fun visiting with the families, but is anything but leisurely and relaxing. The day usually ends with us getting the kids to bed later than usual and my husband and I taking turns collapsing on the couch and picking up from what appears to have been a tornado that went through our house (but is actually just the aftermath of a busy day running in and out hustling along four kids).

So for the last five years, Mother’s Day came and went and I was always left feeling a little let down and resentful. But what happened to MY day? I know that this is probably a selfish attitude, but I didn’t just feel this way out of a sense of entitlement. I actually NEEDED the sort of day I dreamed about, and Mother’s Day seemed like the most logical (and only) time I’d get to have it. But this year I realized I was wrong. As the big day approached, the day’s activities were planned and once again I saw any possibility of having MY Mother’s Day slip away. Then it hit me! MY Mother’s Day…I could still have MY Mother’s Day. It would just have to be on a different day. After discussing this with my husband we agreed to start a new tradition. The official Mother’s Day would always be more like Grandmother’s Day to us. It is a day to honor the older women in our family who have given us so much. But we will always pick one day (either the weekend before or after) that would be MY Mother’s Day. A day I’ve always dreamed about and desperately need at least once a year. We’ll do the same for Father’s Day as well.

Our new tradition kicked off this past Sunday. I slept in and my husband got the kids ready for the day. We went to the later church service, followed by going out for lunch. We all came home and while the kids had naps/quiet time, my husband and I curled up on the couch and half watched a movie, half took a nap ourselves. Once everyone was up we headed out for a fun evening at a festival.


This was how I spent MY Mother’s Day...one week later :-)

Jennifer is the mother of four (Lydia-6, Connor-4, Owen-2, and Tyler-11 months) as well as a freelance writer in Toledo, Ohio.

Lessons from Mother’s Day 2007

My Mother's Day was filled with many valuable lessons, a few of which I share with you today...

• I should never share my parenting style with seasoned parents.
  

• Doing so can result in the loss of good friends. :-(



• Our house is too small to reasonably accommodate 15 children and 4 adults for a long weekend.


• Doing so results in massive quantities of dishes and laundry, which is never fun when you want to relax.
  

• Spending the weekend, hosting another large family, has convinced me that my eight children are perfect!



• My children give fabulous Mother’s Day gifts because, even after raising children for over 32 years, I still LOVE handmade cards and gifts! And I especially loved when they surprised me by planting flowers in my empty flowerbed!

• I absolutely, without a doubt, love, love, love, my children, and I think, and hope, that they feel the same way about me!

Read more about Sharon’s ever expanding family at Hearts of Hope.

Flowers at Midnight

I have never been much of a mothers day person, but I have to admit that I enjoyed all the things my kids came up with. They started out with flowers at midnight. Tara had walked to the flower store all by herself during the day and hidden them in her room. Was a wonderful surprise to get them.



Next morning, it was time for presents. I think Sylvia was the most excited about all the presents, she helped me open each one of them :) There were many cards and presents, including a nice electronic card from my brother.



My presents did include even more flowers, I loved it.





In the afternoon, we visited a playground, to have a picnic and expend some energy. Always fun.







I studied go while the kids played, we all had a great time.



When we came home, hubby and Cees and hubby had cleaned up our bedroom floor. That was a very welcome surprise, it had been looking like a toy store exploded in our room. It is nice to see the floor again. At least, for a few days ^^



Yes, I had a wonderful mothers day!

It's called an adventure...

7 am, Mother's Day 2007: We were all sleeping nicely in our tent at Assateague Island National Seashore. While the Atlantic Ocean water was a bit chilly for swimming, all I wanted to do was lay out on the beach and relax for one day. (You'll have to excuse my "pictures", I didn't think to take any real photos since I was trying to relax and all.)

Us sleeping in the tent with the beach and ocean less than a hundred yards away:



7:30 am: It was lightly raining and the wind picked up. I figured it would blow over, meanwhile looking forward to my husband cooking breakfast and relaxing.

8 am: Disaster!



A tent pole snapped due to the high winds (35mph or so), the ground stakes came out and half the tent collapsed. The kids freaked out, my husband was unhappily woke up due to half the tent now being on top of him, and I was thinking, there goes any relaxing.

9:30 am: While fighting the wind, sand, and light rain, we managed to pack everything up and load it into the van. (A real photo, taken by my husband while I drove.)



12:30 pm: Back home after an uneventful drive across Maryland, we unloaded the van in our driveway under a brilliant warm sun and no wind. Stupid weather. We began the long boring task of shaking the sand out of everything.

5 pm: Thinking ahead, I had already prepared our dinner before we went to the beach and it only needed a few hours in the crock pot to warm. Course 4 of the 7 people in the house then refused to eat it. I briefly considered throwing a fit about my lack of relaxing so far.

All and all, it didn't turn out to be the Mother's Day I had planned. There wasn't any relaxing, there was a lot of grumbling (not all by me, hehe), and after spending Friday and Saturday outside at the beach, Sunday was the day I got sun burnt at home. But I figure it was a good example of mothering in general. The cute little newborn has colic, the sweet toddler throws a temper tantrum at your sister's wedding, the adorable kindergartner hits his teacher, and so on. Nothing ever goes as planned and the most important lesson I've learned as a mom is to take life as it comes, it's all an adventure anyways.



Katie Fleck is a stay at home mom of five, Zach (9 years), Emily and Ally (8 year old identical twins), Kyle (5 years), and Kelly (4 years old). On a quest for a self cleaning house and 27 hour days, she writes at Ramblings of a SAHM

Mother's Day, now with dishes!

What's funny about this year's Mother's Day is how closely it resembled last year's Mother's Day. (And even though I didn't take this photo Sunday, this is essentially what I faced when I returned home.)

Alas, I didn't take a single photograph of Mother's Day this year . . . we went to church, as usual, where I would have taught my preschool Sunday School class, only no one showed up. So, I brewed myself a huge cup of tea to soothe my throat because then I led the songs from the piano. Despite the tea, the high notes were silent--I looked as if I were lip-synching, only the soundtrack cut out.

Anyway, after church, my husband grilled salmon for me on his George Foreman Grill. Oh, how he does love that grill! When we finished eating, I left the house alone and went thrift-shopping. I browsed at Half-Priced Books, picked up my contact lenses at Costco and saw a movie. I stopped by the grocery store for a few items before returning home to my family.

I love them--I really do, but the perfect Mother's Day for me is a day in which I get a break from being a mother. (I can't believe I'm admitting this.) And so, my day was quite perfect!

* * *

Mel blogs at Actual Unretouched Photo and The Amazing Shrinking Mom. Her favorite Mother's Day gift was a bar of dark chocolate, which vanished by Monday night. Imagine that.

Dia de Las Madres

I am not much of a cards and flowers kind of girl. I appreciate them, really I do. But I want substance....memories that I can recall when I am 80 and sitting in a recliner, a bit incontinent but grateful for everything.

Bill and I are kind of the anti-mother/father's day couple. We don't really do the whole flower routine, but sometimes cards are given. Occasionally a gift is given. What we really like to do is take a day trip, and do something fun with the kids. That, for me, is the ultimate gift.

This Mothers Day happened to fall on my husbands "on-call" weekend. He works 72 hours on in the ER in a town on the Texas coast, a couple hours drive from where we live. So, we brought Mothers Day to him. On Saturday, no less, because you know, any day can be Mother's Day. It was a day filled with a lovely seafood lunch, fishing, lounging in the sun, and being together as a family near the ocean. Take a peek at our day......it was as fun as it looks.

Pelicans everywhere


Blue crabs


Checking out the fish Dad caught


The colors were just explosive on this gorgeous, late spring day


Golden children laughing in the sun


Fishing with a colorful backdop


Birds chowing down


Yes, it was a fantastic Mother's Day.....being together as a family, and sitting with my favorite person on earth, taking in the magnificent view.



Sunday was Mother's Day, but Saturday was the day I fell even deeper in love with my family.

Todo bueno...........It's all good!!!

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Jody is mom to 4 kiddos, ages 12, 9,6 and 3. She blogs about her life at and baby makes 6!

How was your Mother's Day?

For the next two weeks, we're going to do something a little different and fun...each of our bloggers will post a photo-driven account of their Mother's Day.

Photoblogging my Mother's Day was tricky this year, since my husband is working out of town and there was nobody to take pictures of me enjoying things like awakening to flowers, chocolates, and breakfast in bed. Not only was there nobody to take pictures of those things, but--gasp--without my husband here to orchestrate, they didn't happen.

Things started pretty rough. I stayed up late last night watching a show about Nostradamus on the History Channel. Unfortunately, I fell asleep just before they shared his prophecies for the current day (I think it had something to do with disease or earthquakes or war...) For some unknown reason, my toddler woke up screaming in the middle of the night and only calmed down after I carried him around the house until he woke up fully (bad dream, I guess.) When I got up this morning--NOT to be pampered with pancakes and bacon and eggs and toast, but instead surprised by a three-year-old who'd had an accident during the night--I looked like this:

I stumbled to the kitchen, which had been neglected due to a late visit with my sister and her family the night before. Despite my Mother's Day wishes, it had not been magically cleaned to sparkling perfection during the night, nor had my kids sensed my secret desire and gotten up early to do it:

I knew I muchly needed a cup of tea to start my day right. My son had brought this home from school the day before:



I'd made a big fuss over it and promised that I'd drink it on Mother's Day morning, but at that moment I knew that only black tea would do first thing in the morning. So I removed the tea bag and put it away in the cupboard, made myself the black tea and told my son it was the tea he'd brought me. Shhh.

The rest of the day was a blur of business as usual: laundry, dishes, meal prep, and because it's been a beautiful day, a two-hour trip to the park. When we got home, my kids made an attempt at cleaning up the yard. This is the result:

I like how the big stroller appears to be dominating the umbrella stroller by pinning it to the ground.

It's 9 PM now and the house is asleep. I'm about to settle in to watch the last installment of Bleak House on Masterpiece Theatre. After that, I plan to settle in for a long, deep Mother's Day sleep. I just hope it doesn't involve any screaming or peeing. Hey, a mom can dream.

How did your Mother's Day go? Post in the comments, or post about it on your own blog and send the link to info@ largerfamilies dot com. When we've got a day open, I'll post the links.

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Meagan is a mother of four sons. She also blogs at Equilibrium.

Mary's Motivators

When we have boatloads of things to do, I've found that several things help our family power through and get things done. I start by deciding what most needs done, or what would improve the situation the very most. If we're staring at a filthy house, I'll usually start with the kitchen and living room. Once that area looks better, I feel so much better!

Next I divide the work as clearly as possible. Instead of vaguely telling two kids to go clean their room, which inevitably leads to crying and arguing, I assign one child to laundry and books, and another to toys and trash. That way there's no arguing over who does what, and it's easy for me to come in and see who has done their part.

Finally, I always try to remember the power that comes in working together. Kids do so much better when working alongside parents.

The other day the yard was getting to me. When I thought it over, I realized it was the raspberry bed that was the very worst. So I promised everyone we'd only work for 45 minutes, and we set to work.

The teenagers and I worked deep in the raspberry bed. The 9 year olds weeded a section that had been weeded a few weeks before and wasn't quite so weedy. The 5 and 2 year olds put weeds in their little red wagon and dragged it to the burn pile.

Twice, anyway.

But by the time they got tuckered out, the 9 year olds were tired of weeding, and were glad to take over the younger one's job. Eight people all working in one 3x30 foot patch of ground got things in shape in 45 minutes.

There's huge power in a big family all working together. Use it to everyone's advantage.

Oh, and usually it helps to offer popsicles afterwards too.

Note to self: Buy more popsicles

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Mary is the mother of 8 children, with two more expected to arrive from Ethiopia later this summer. She blogs at Owlhaven and at her Ethiopia Adoption Blog

Controlling? Moi?

I'll tell you right up front that I have control issues. I make no bones about it. I like things done on time, the first time, and done the right way ... i.e. done "my way." Believe it or not, though, my offspring aren't wild about my natural inclinations or my chore charts ala color coded excel spread sheets.

While I will also admit that I am a verrrrrrrrry slow learner, I have actually learned a few things along this parenting journey:

1. We are all on the same team. It's not me vs. them. It's not about one of us winning and the other losing. We're all on the same team.

2. When I drop the control, miracles happen. One day last week, in fact, I was driving home from, well, I don't remember where, fretting about how the unmotivated I thought the kids were, how I was "failing to prepare them for real life," and began to come up with new strategies to implement as soon as I walked in the door. Before I could give the kids the complete earful of new rules and regulations that I'd brainstormed, though, one of the twins was asking of they could help me empty the dishwasher. The other one wanted to fold the laundry. They both started fighting with their seven year old sister over who would get the first turn to vacuum. Not motivated, you say? Humble pie, served right up, Mom. When I include the kids in my work, and stop ordering them around, strange things happen. Pretty good preparation for real life, I'd say.

3. My kids will follow my example. Whether it's the four letter words that pass my lips when I trip over boxes (which were exactly where I told my daughter to put them, by the way ...) or whether it's the attitude I model, it's a pretty sure bet that it will come back to me.

4. It's okay to cut myself (and my kids!) a little slack. Last week, at the end of a particularly challenging day (kid-behavior-wise, that is), one of my little ones asked me, in all her exuberant sincerity, "aren't you glad you had kids, mama?" {Exhale} "Yes, baby, I'm very glad." I can, all too often, get to the end of the day and have a nice checklist of accomplishments, but if I'm not deliberate about it, 'enjoying my kids' doesn't make the list.

Perhaps that's the biggest thing I've learned, these past 14 year: enjoy your kids. Sure, chore charts, routines and rules make life run more smoothly. We all need them! But I truly don't want to be so focused on "getting the job done" that I let the really important job of "enjoy your kids" slip by.

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Bonny is a postpartum doula and homeschooling mom of five (ages 14, 11, 7, 4.5 & 4.5).

When All Else Fails-Rebel

How do we motivate our kids to do the things we want them to do? How do we keep ourselves motivated to do all of the stuff that we need to do?

I really can’t add any words of wisdom to the motivating kids discussion. My kids are young and I’m still working out a consistent method to keep them doing things the way I’d like them done (I’ll probably be working on this forever). I will address the second question because if I’m not motivated then nobody is going to just step up to the plate.

I think what mainly keeps me going is the fact that if I don’t do it, it just won’t get done (at least with any consistency). But I do have my moments, nights, even a day or two where I just rebel. I say: “I’m not cooking, cleaning, picking up, breaking up fights, wiping noses (or butts), paying bills, running errands, or anything that involves any sort of to-do list!” I head upstairs, soak in my tub and come down after my husband has gotten the kids to bed. Then I sulk on the couch. Why should I try and keep up, it’s pointless!?! Everything I do, they undo. Everything I clean gets dirty again within five minutes. No one cares. No one listens. No one even bats an eye when I get frustrated. So I rebel by vegging out on the couch.

But then the next thing I know I need to get up and get a drink. Along the way I carry a few stray dishes into the kitchen. Why not? I was heading that way anyhow. On the way back I head over to the laundry and throw in a load. No biggie. It won’t even make a dent in my laundry pile, but I do like the sound of a washing machine running. Something about it reminds me that some progress is being made. On the way back to the couch I pick up some toys and clear a path. Now I’ve done it. I’ve created a clean spot. I really like how that clean spot looks. I keep looking at it from the couch and I feel my resolve start to melt away. I decide to pick up a few more things-but only during the commercials. But as the commercial ends I keep going.

And so my rebellion ends. All I needed was a break and to fool myself into thinking that I was done being responsible for it all. But my “take this job and shove it” attitude doesn’t last. Maybe it’s because I know the longer I delay the bigger mess I’ll have later. Maybe it’s because it’s such a huge part of who I am and hard to just let go. But I think the real reason is because I understand my role in my family and while I dread it at times, most days I really love it.

Jennifer is a mother of four (Lydia-6, Connor-4, Owen-2, and Tyler-11 months). Her favorite way to rebel from her household/childrearing duties is to soak in her tub, sipping a glass of cheap champagne. Now if only she could ignore the tub toys floating around her she’d be all set. You can also find her here.

I Wanna Be Motivated

When it comes to my family, I've got big ideas for the way things ought to run. I have goals, standards, a definite plan. You might say I run a tight ship around here...now if only I could get my kids on board.

I have gotten better at this with time, but I'm paying for past mistakes. In fact, if there's one thing I think I'd approach differently if given a do-over, it's that I'd start 'em young. Not just making half-hearted attempts to involve my toddler in picking up his toys as I did when my oldest was little, but to do like I do now: walk my young ones over to the mess and physically assist them in helping me clean it up, whether it means putting the paper towel in their hand, putting my hand on top of theirs and wiping, or w-a-i-t-i-n-g the painstakingly long time it takes to clean up a tub full of blocks with a preschooler who keeps getting sidetracked. Sure, it would be a lot easier--for now--to just jump in and do it myself, but one thing I've learned as I've watched my big kids grow up is that "easier for now" means "so very not easy later". My preschooler and toddler are willing, even eager, to pitch in. My nearly-10 and nearly-8 year old? Not quite so jazzed about it. Sure, some of that is natural at their ages, but I know a lot of it is that pitching in just isn't natural to them yet, because I wasn't diligent enough about it when they were smaller.

But, for most of us writing or reading at this blog it's too late to start 'em young...at least, some of them! We've got older kids, and perhaps we were too lax when they were younger, or really thought we had a great system and now find that they're rebelling. Do we motivate by shouting? Threatening? Removing privileges? Punishments? Gold stars? Prizes? Money? Hugs and kisses?

On a bad day, I might use the first two, and realize they don't work at all. For some kids, the second two--removing privileges and handing out punishments--might seem to be the only things that get through their skulls. Other kids are more motivated by praise and rewards, and some simply crave approval. The problem is that in any family there won't be any two kids who can be motivated in exactly the same way. And it's not exactly fair to go around handing out $5 bills to the kid who falls into the "motivated by money" camp while the "I'll ignore you until you ground me" kid only gets to keep existing privileges if he/she does what s/he's supposed to.

While I've been working on my book on raising big families, I've gotten a lot of great tips and strategies for motivating the masses from some truly sage parents--moms of mega-families, those with teens, and parents who've figured out an approach that really works--or who are (like me!) still struggling in this area, but have discovered some great insights along the way. I can't share their advice here without permission, but I would like to extend an invitation to them, or anyone else who's reading this, to share their kid-motivating tips in the comments section. Or, post about it on your own blog, and trackback or post a link to your post in the comments. I think this is one area where a lot of parents feel a lot of frustration...especially when there are a lot of kids involved. I can't wait to read what you have to say!

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Meagan is a mom of four sons and a freelance writer. You can also find her here.

My Kingdom for a Bottle of Motivation

How do we motivate our kids to do the things we want them to do?

You mean my kids can do other things besides make messes, demand food, and pick on each other?

I think this is a tough topic for nearly every family. If anyone has the secret answer, I want it now! Pretty please with sprinkles on top?

I can however tell you what doesn't work.

Waiting until the evening when the kids are tired, cranky, and hungry to ask them to clean their toy room. Logically you'd think they clean quickly so they could eat dinner and rest. However "logic" isn't in a child's vocabulary. They'd rather be miserable and not clean. It's a losing battle, don't play General Custer at Little Big Horn.

Being vague. "Clean your room" makes no sense to a kid. To them, cleaning their room could mean reorganizing the massive pile of stuffed animals on their bed while ignoring the clothes and toys everywhere else.

Expecting them to "see" the mess. Some people honestly never gain "this place is a mess, I should clean" vision. Dirty footprints on the floor? Are akin to the grass being green to a child. That's just the way it is, why try to do anything about it?

I'm never going to be the world's best motivator. But I may just be the world's best repeater. "Pick up your shoes." "Put away your jacket." "Is that where your backpack goes?" Over and over and over until it happens. Then repeat the next day. Suposidly kids learn by repetition. I just hope I don't lose my voice before they finally get it.


Katie Fleck is a stay at home mom of five, Zach (9 years), Emily and Ally (8 year old identical twins), Kyle (5 years), and Kelly (4 years old). On a quest for a self cleaning house and 27 hour days, she writes at Ramblings of a SAHM

Irritation Station

They’re out to get me. I swear. The past two weeks or maybe more my children have seemingly hatched a plan to turn their mother into a tyrant. I yell, I scream, I whimper, I beg, I demand, I threaten and then I hide in the bathroom and sob on the toilette paper. Why?

Why are children so difficult? Why can’t they just do what I want them to do the first time I ask and exactly the way I want it done? I just don’t know. I really have no answers. It’s truly a wonder that I’m not a substance abuser, unless coffee is considered a substance.

I’m so glad I started keeping a blog where I’ve chronicled some of the sweet things my children do. I need to be reminded that they don’t wake up in the mornings thinking about how they can irritate their mother.

I know that the overall atmosphere in my home depends largely on my attitude. I set the tone. Sometimes I say to the kids, “Let’s make this a good day.” I can see in their faces that they are wondering if they should mention that they “accidentally” dumped seven boxes of puzzle pieces behind the book cases or that they used my make up brush to clean the buttery cinnamon and sugar off of the baby’s face. Hopefully, I won’t notice the knob missing on the antique dresser or the chip in my favorite bowl. It’s really up to me how I react to the chaos. Am I going to let the multiple disasters bounce off me like I’m an impenetrable wall or will I soak them up like a sponge and drip the contents of the fury back on my children? Honestly, I do both but; I probably spend more time being the sponge.

This week I wrote out a simple schedule for my older children. They have taken to it easily and I hope that their motivation to stay on task will last for a while. To appease my irritations I think about what great adults my kids will be someday and how I will love to visit them and see how they cope with their children.

It's a daunting task, this mother gig. I'm glad that many of you blog about your lives and your children. It's good to know I'm not the only woman fighting an unending battle to raise decent humans and keep my house from collapsing under the weight of laundry piled on the floors.