On motherhood

Two things

1. Being a mom is legitimately 2 full time jobs.  How do I know this for a fact and not just because I'm super  tired at the end of the day?  My mom.  While in Seattle, my mom did all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, day planning.  All I had to do was ready the children and enforce rules, etc.  And guess what, I was not super tired at the end of the day.  In fact, I even let Rex stay up late most nights because I didn't feel like killing him.  My children were super pleasant to be around; they threw far fewer fits; and we had way more fun just playing and not worrying about all the other stuff.  The point is: I feel more vindicated at my level of exhaustion at the end of the day and know with a more perfect knowledge that my children really are nearly perfect, I'm just too tired to notice most of time.

Where's Mom?  Taking pictures and not entertaining children.

Where's Mom?  Not holding a sick and fussy Alice.

2. I feel like my biggest job as a mother is to creatively, and without making anyone cry, survive the day.  At 6 o'clock when Greg gets home, we count the day as mostly a success if I have not killed the children and they have not, in turn, killed me.  The second (nearly) happens far more often than you'd think for their size.  Let me give you an example: because we don't have a traditional yard or sidewalk area, Rex is allowed to ride his bike inside.  He rides his bike all the time; all over the house.  He also gets off his bike all the time and all over the house.  His favorite places to leave his bike are in the doorway to the playroom, in front of the fridge, and between the island and the kitchen sink.  I am surprised the worse damage his bike has inflicted on me is a stubbed toe.  A few days ago, after once again doing a trip-jump over the tricycle, I'd had enough.  I went on a manhunt to yell at Rex and threaten him within an inch of his life that if he ever left his bike in front of the fridge, or near the sink, or in the doorway to the orange room, or in the bathroom, or in front of the pantry....I realized that this would not work.  He would not remember so many places.  And then my creatively blossomed.  Tricycle parking.  Rex and I created and then colored 4 tricycle parking signs  to designate the four places in the house, aside from the entire bike room of course, where he could park his bike.  And I win.  If I find his bike not in bike parking, he gets a warning and then I get it.  It only took two days of reminders, and now his bike is always in a parking space, well out of my way.  I am so good at my job.