Happy Mother's Day!

It's 2:40 pm and I have been trying unsuccessfully for two hours to get Andrew to take a nap. Despite my threats, he is NOT in his bed, I hear him in the bathroom. I ask "What are you doing, Andrew?" "Need to go potty" Yeah I bet you need to go potty, even though you just went TEN minutes ago huh? That is what I feel like shouting. I help him go potty AGAIN and Olivia comes crawling in as fast as she can to climb on the toilet. She grabs a toy. I pull Andrew off the toilet, pull his pants up, and just as I grab Olivia she manages to drop the toy right square in the dirty toilet! Wow...

A young mother writes: "I know you've written before about the empty nest syndrome, that lonely period after the children are grown and gone. Right now I'm up to my eyeballs in laundry and muddy boots. The baby is teething; the boys are fighting. My husband just called and said to eat without him, and I fell off my diet. Lay it on me again, will you?"

OK. One of these days, you'll shout, "Why don't you kids grow up and act your age?" And they will. Or, "You guys get outside and find yourselves something to do... and don't slam the door!" And they won't.

You'll straighten up the boys' bedroom neat and tidy: bumper stickers discarded, bedspread tucked and smooth, toys displayed on the shelves. Hangers in the closet. Animals caged. And you'll say out loud, "Now I want it to stay this way." And it will.

You'll prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn't been picked to death and a cake with no finger traces on the icing, and you'll say, "Now, there's a meal for company." And you'll eat it alone.

You'll say, "I want complete privacy on the phone. No dancing around. No demolition crews. Silence! Do you hear me?" And you'll have it.

No more plastic tablecloths stained with spaghetti. No more bedspreads to protect the sofa from damp bottoms. No more gates to stumble over at the top of the basement steps. No more clothespins under the sofa. No more playpens to arrange a room around.

No more anxious nights under a vaporizer tent. No more sand on the sheets or Popeye movies in the bathroom. No more iron-on patches, rubber bands for ponytails, tight boots or wet knotted shoestrings.

Imagine. A lipstick with a point on it. No baby-sitter for New Year's Eve. Washing only once a week. Seeing a steak that isn't ground. Having your teeth cleaned without a baby on your lap.

No PTA meetings. No more car pools. No blaring radios. No one washing her hair at 11 o'clock at night. Having your own roll of Scotch tape.

Think about it. No more Christmas presents out of toothpicks and library paste. No more sloppy oatmeal kisses. No more tooth fairy. No giggles in the dark. No knees to heal, no responsibility.

Only a voice crying, "Why don't you grow up?" and the silence echoing, "I did."
By: Erma Bombeck

This made me cry. I have been so stressed and crazy the past couple months. Most of it has been my own personal problems but to add to it... My children have been overwhelming me with the sickness, the teething, the crying and crying and crying ALL day, the sleepless nights, the early mornings, the temper tantrums, the misbehaving, the runny noses, the poopy diapers, the "Andrew do it", gosh if I hear that one more time I think I will go crazy! I know one day my children are going to be on their own and all I will have left is my thoughts and memories. I should have done this... I could have done this... If only I did this... If I could do it again... on and on and on.

Every night I go to bed thinking... What am I going to do with these children? They truly deserve better. They are amazing kids. So for this Mother's Day (I know it's actually over but... yeah I suck) I would like to thank my mother for always being there for me even when I am insane and call her crying only to hang up and the next hour be fine. Thanks for changing my diapers, cleaning my face, being my taxi, raising me practically by yourself and for always being my number one fan. I would like to thank my grandmother who has patiently listened to me whine and complain over the past 22 years and who has been one of my best friends. I would like to thank my mother-in-law who has always been a wonderful example to me of a great mother. It is because of her that I have such an amazing husband who ALWAYS puts me first. I would like to say Happy late Mother's day to all my aunts, grandmothers (Ben's included), friends, and fellow-bloggers who I admire so much. I am glad I am not in this alone and even though I feel overwhelmed much of the time, I feel it an honor to call myself a MOTHER.