In the spirit of David Letterman, I thought I'd share my personal Top 10 List:
You know you're the mother of 3 and 1 year old boys when...
10. Your preschooler gives you a card he made for mother's day, and you react with a mixture of joy and horror. Joy, because it's so
SWEET and you're truly happy and love it and know this is one that will be displayed proudly at the office and then treasured forever; and horror because it reminds you that today is the Friday before Mother's Day and you haven't yet mailed the Mother's Day card you bought for your mother 2 weeks ago and that's been sitting in your work bag since then (sorry, Mom).
9. You step on a piece of cooked carrot after dinner, it smooshes under your foot, and to clean it up you look at it, assess the cleanliness of the floor around, and pop it in your mouth and swallow.
8. Your Pediatrician says "I think we'll leave the stitches in his hand for a few more days" and you sigh with relief - because that means he'll only have 1.5 hands with which to grab and bother his big brother (potentially landing himself or big brother back in the hospital again).
7. You go to a friend's new house who doesn't have kids for an afternoon party and bring your boys, and you're relieved to see the outdoor space has neither dangerous items such as long sticks for the boys to impale themselves upon, nor highly-maintained gardens & shrubbery for the boys to mess up. As you leave the party (somewhat early), you congratulate yourself for having survived 2 hours in polite company when the boys a. ate well, b. weren't horribly rude (though they weren't super-polite, something you must still work on with them, especially the older one), c. went potty when asked, d. didn't have a massive meltdown tantrum, and e. didn't break anything of value.
6. You know your Pediatrician's telephone # by heart (415-641-1019).
5. Your husband asks you to find your younger son's blankie at bedtime, and you panic, because you're terrified it's soaking wet in the washing machine and that means everyone will have to deal with his screaming until it was dry enough to sleep with. You realize you need a second blankie (because of course, he chose a unique, handmade blankie for his security blanket), but you haven't yet figured out how to do it.
4. Your love,
love,
LOVE your sons' bellies. Every time you see your younger son's round, soft, Pillsbury-dough-boy pot-belly sticking out at bathtime, you want to hug and kiss and cuddle him (and you do, and he giggles, and so you do it some more).
3. You can recite all the words to
The Very Hungry Caterpillar;
Go Dog Go;
Goodnight Moon;
Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet; and at least 3 other children's books by heart
"These yellow pets are called the Zeds.
They have one hair upon their heads.
Their hair grows so fast, so fast they say,
They need a haircut every day..."
2. When a friend from work asks for a restaurant recommendation, you can give many - but you remark to yourself that you and your husband haven't actually *visited* any of the restaurants you're recommending in the past 3 years.
And the #1 way you know you're the mother of 3 and 1 year old boys is...
1. When you take a brief mental vacation (because really, "brief" is all the time you have these days) and reflect on things, you a. feel tired, b. wonder when the tantrums will stop (please, soon), c. wonder when your husband will get fed up with you; and d. overall, you feel pretty darned lucky just to be you, as you are, and as they are.
Happy Mother's Day!
10. Your preschooler gives you a card he made for mother's day, and you react with a mixture of joy and horror. Joy, because it's so SWEET and you're truly happy and love it and know this is one that will be displayed proudly at the office and then treasured forever; and horror because it reminds you that today is the Friday before Mother's Day and you haven't yet mailed the Mother's Day card you bought for your mother 2 weeks ago and that's been sitting in your work bag since then (sorry, Mom).
9. You step on a piece of cooked carrot after dinner, it smooshes under your foot, and to clean it up you look at it, assess the cleanliness of the floor around, and pop it in your mouth and swallow.
8. Your Pediatrician says "I think we'll leave the stitches in his hand for a few more days" and you sigh with relief - because that means he'll only have 1.5 hands with which to grab and bother his big brother (potentially landing himself or big brother back in the hospital again).
7. You go to a friend's new house who doesn't have kids for an afternoon party and bring your boys, and you're relieved to see the outdoor space has neither dangerous items such as long sticks for the boys to impale themselves upon, nor highly-maintained gardens & shrubbery for the boys to mess up. As you leave the party (somewhat early), you congratulate yourself for having survived 2 hours in polite company when the boys a. ate well, b. weren't horribly rude (though they weren't super-polite, something you must still work on with them, especially the older one), c. went potty when asked, d. didn't have a massive meltdown tantrum, and e. didn't break anything of value.
6. You know your Pediatrician's telephone # by heart (415-641-1019).
5. Your husband asks you to find your younger son's blankie at bedtime, and you panic, because you're terrified it's soaking wet in the washing machine and that means everyone will have to deal with his screaming until it was dry enough to sleep with. You realize you need a second blankie (because of course, he chose a unique, handmade blankie for his security blanket), but you haven't yet figured out how to do it.
4. Your love, love, LOVE your sons' bellies. Every time you see your younger son's round, soft, Pillsbury-dough-boy pot-belly sticking out at bathtime, you want to hug and kiss and cuddle him (and you do, and he giggles, and so you do it some more).
3. You can recite all the words to The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Go Dog Go; Goodnight Moon; Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet; and at least 3 other children's books by heart
2. When a friend from work asks for a restaurant recommendation, you can give many - but you remark to yourself that you and your husband haven't actually *visited* any of the restaurants you're recommending in the past 3 years.
And the #1 way you know you're the mother of 3 and 1 year old boys is...
1. When you take a brief mental vacation (because really, "brief" is all the time you have these days) and reflect on things, you a. feel tired, b. wonder when the tantrums will stop (please, soon), c. wonder when your husband will get fed up with you; and d. overall, you feel pretty darned lucky just to be you, as you are, and as they are.
Happy Mother's Day!
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