You Know You're a Mommy When...

Happily, most of the things listed below remind me that I am the mother of 3 kids.  Hope you say yes to a few of these as well.

You Know You're a Mommy When...

• Spit-up and boogies don't freak you out.
• Having someone whisper your name right by your face, in the middle of the night doesn't make you call the cops
• Mac and cheese and chicken nuggets are a balanced meal
• Your dinner comes from the leftovers on your children's plates
• You can clean anything with a disposable wipe
• You hide the good food, so you don't have to share (in our house: ice cream and chips)
• You can make a toddler cry with "THE LOOK"
• You know how to remove marker scribbles from walls...and floors...and carpet
• You can maneuver through the Child's Playscape at any local fast food joint with stealth and agility
• You know all the places where "Kids Eat Free" and use it to your advantage
• You can soothe them back to sleep from a nightmare like no one else
• Your kids are bathed and dressed better than you
• You can carry a diaper bag, a toddler, a baby carrier and unlock the front door without dropping anything

These are just a few that came to mind, the list could go on forever.  What was your Mommy moment?

Mommy-hood is hard

Yesterday was rough.

Well, actually it started Saturday night with a little girl telling me her tummy hurt.
After 2 bouts of sickness, 2 sets of jammies, 2 showers, scrubbing the couch, scrubbing our carpet, rolling up our rug and putting it in the garage for later cleaning...I finally got Mallory to sleep on the living room floor while I slept on the couch beside her.

The next day should have been better.  I got a break from Little Ms. Sick as I took the boys to church and Greg stayed at home with her.  I knew that Greg had to go to work for the rest of the day right when I got home from church, so I was a tad worried about having 3 kids by myself, one of them being sick.

It went downhill after Greg left.  After the kids were fed lunch, it should have been rest time, but none of them were having any of that.  Casey (11 mos.) slept for a little over an hour while I sword-fought with Nolan.  After Casey woke up, it was as though I was being pulled in 3 different directions.

Mallory wanted to snuggle
Nolan wanted to battle
Casey was...a handful.  He would cry if I would hold him, cry if I put him down.  What do you do with that???

I tried to be the good mom and get Mallory and Nolan to do an art activity.  That lasted 5 minutes.

I tried to be the energetic mom and sword-fight.  That lasted even less time and Casey got hit with a sword.

I tried to be the guilt-trip mom and put in a movie.  They were interested for 10 minutes.

Then, we all just sort of sat around, listening to Casey whine and cry for what felt like FOREVER!
(It was one of those days where you look at the clock and say, "Ok, it's 2:00 pm, I can make it!"  And after what you feel like has been at least an hour, you look at the clock and it is 2:05 pm)

I knew if I could make it to dinner time I would be okay.  But getting to dinner time was hard.  I felt like the worst mom.  I think I told Nolan, "Give me one more second." about 15 times.  Eventually dinner rolled around.  Casey was finally happy with a stuffed belly, Nolan was full and Mallory hadn't gotten sick all day.

The routine of bedtime is something I love.  It was my silver lining to yesterday.  I got to give Casey a bath, which he loves and he quickly went to sleep.  I read Magic Tree House with Nolan and tried to teach him to play Solitaire.  I finally got to cuddle with Mallory and watch My Little Pony.  I got everyone to bed, picked up the toys, did the dishes, sat down and realized (for probably the billionth time) that Mommy-hood is hard.  The good, the bad, and the ugly...and yesterday was pretty ugly.  It's something that I signed up for and do every day, the rewards are sometimes few and far between but I wouldn't change it for the world.