and the mom of the year award goes to...

NOT ME.  The past few weeks have been hectic, at best.  The Mom Crowd's latest post is titled "7 tips on running a marathon."  For those of you for run, well, good for you.  I've never understood the motivation to run, only to end up back where you started.  For me, being a mom of three active boys is running a marathon in and of itself.  I feel like every day I'm just racing to get to the finish line, which happens to be my bed to fall into, only to be woken up a few hours later by a teething baby.

The past two Fridays have been very bad mommy days for me.  Last Friday, while doing my hair, I gave baby bulb something to play with.  It was the bottle of my vitamins.  He likes shaking the bottle like a rattle.  Bad choice.  Yes, it had a child safety lid.  Apparently, it was either not closed properly or my curious nine month old figured out how to get it open.  What I do know is I looked down a few seconds later to find him attempting to get one of those pills in his mouth.  I still can't be sure if he actually got one or two down his throat, but I caught him in time to know it wasn't more than that.  I immediately called the Poison Control number (thank you, internet and Vonage) and was able to learn that based on his weight and the mg of iron in my vitamins, he would be fine.  However, ten pills could have been fatal!  I shed several tears that day, held my baby close, and all was well. 

This Friday, it was Teddy Bear's turn for near disaster.  We were at a small playground where I was participating in a garage sale.  Managing three kids and trying to sell some zero to nine month baby clothes while Abu Tulip was working was a bad idea.  I left my table briefly to run my oldest next door to his soccer game.  I asked another mom to look after him, but there was just too much going on.  A bunch of  little boys on a merry-go-round and my three year old fell and split his forehead open.  I didn't even see him fall.  A parent brought him to me, and I knew immediately he needed stitches.  So off to the hospital we did go, and three stitches later Teddy Bear is a happy boy.  He even wanted to get back on the merry-go-round when we returned.  Friends helped look after my boys and table, and we were back in under an hour.   As Friday is a day off, the roads were clear and the ER was almost deserted.  Arab Medical Center staff were kind and efficient, and I was so thankful my first experience in the ER with my own son went so smoothly. 

I know I have too much on my plate right now, and am struggling with what to do.  I am teaching English part time to rowdy fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, and am starting to see so much progress in their learning.  I sing in a choir which I love, and next weekend we will be traveling as a family with the choir to perform in The Holy City.  Along with playing piano for church, and teaching Sunday School in Arabic, I'm wiped.  The boys need their momma, and I need a break. 

My friends with older kids all smile with that knowing look - those treasured, hectic days of raising young children.  "It's all a blur," they say, "but I wouldn't change it for the world."  I'm trying to enjoy those special moments with my boys.  Their laughter, especially Teddy Bear's knock knock jokes and Oliver's Down by the Bay rhymes are getting me through the days. 

What about you?  When the laundry is piling up, your son needs help with his homework, and you still haven't cooked dinner, what helps you to get through the day?

~ Um Tulip