MOTHERHOOD--OY!

I promise that I love my kids EVERYDAY,

but why is it that they drive me CRAZY EVERYDAY!?

What are you other mothers doing to help keep SANE?!

I only have TWO boys and I am going CRAZY!

Does anyone ever feel like their once intelligent brain is now turning into MUSH?

How many times must I tell them to

"EAT!"

"Wash your hands!"

"Sit!"

"Quiet!"

"Don't climb that!"

"NOOOO!!"

"Stop! Don't! Shush! Be nice! STOP IT!"

The spills, the diapers, the sticky fingers, the broken crayons, dried out markers, non-sense talks, 100 "potty" runs at bedtime, the cries, the falls, the cuts and injuries, the taps on your shoulder (once is cute-twice is ok, but 10 times is NOT alright), the time outs, the parent to child talks, the whines, fights, drawings on the walls, broken things, well, you get the idea!

Most days I'm really fine, I may tease that they are little stinkers, but honest, I love their guts..! It's just been one of those days I guess!

I hope I'm normal.

I don't want to come across that I don't enjoy them. I know my blessings in having them in my life, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a very hard time of my life. FUN, heart-warming, WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR THE WORLRD, but nevertheless, a HARD time.

There are NO breaks from this job. It's AT LEAST a 12-16 hour day, EVERYDAY, 365 DAYS A YEAR. NO sick days, NO vacation days, NO weekends and NO getting away.

I want to know what other mothers do when they're tired, frustrated, or when you have cabin fever!

Here's what I do anyway when I feel frustrated:

give myself a timeout

bake

cook

do things I like to do--while I put the kids upstairs in their rooms or put on a movie

call someone to chat

email

BLOG

:-)

I think life's all about HOW YOU HANDLE challenges you're given. I'm not saying that kids are a pure challenge, but they CAN be and motherhood IS challenging at times. It's what we do when our patience is tried that make us different from those on the news at night, right?! Heck, I don't even judge those parents who are on news anymore. Of course it's so very heart wrenching and evil to hurt these precious spirits in ANY way, but who am I to judge them!?

I realized today that I'm quite the "new" mother...only 4 years of experience in being a mom.

I am okay! I am still learning!

On the flip side, WHAT A BLESSING IT IS to be able to be a stay at home mother!!!

I enjoy being the one to feed them, to read to them, to listen to them (ok, there's more to improve here), to be able to teach them, to laugh with them at breakfast, lunch and dinner time, and play little games. No one else could love these little monkeys more or better than I could, so WHAT A BLESSING it is to be able to be their mother and be home with them!!

(as Kai "tickles" me across my neck with a grape vine...IT HURTS!!)

OH THE JOYS OF MOTHERHOOD!