More Motherhood Moments

- I am doing laundry on the back porch, confident in the knowledge that the children are bent over their desks, diligently doing math lessons. A movement in the lawn below the boys' bedroom window arrests my attention, and I turn to see a pink balloon bouncing through the grass. Suddenly the barrel of a BB gun appears through the open window and several seconds later all that remains are bits of pink latex and gleeful chuckles.

-I am seated at the kitchen table, laboring over a hand written letter when Mandie toddles up beside me, making her familiar grunting noise that means "Looky here, Mom!" A glance down at her uplifted hand sends shocks of terror through me and I begin shrieking hysterically. There, clasped between her thumb and forefinger is a tiny gecko, its beady black eyes imploring me for pity. "A GECKO!!! SHE HAS A GECKO!!! AAAAAAAGH!!!" Mandie promptly drops her hapless victim on the floor and stares at me, fascinated. Half an hour later my legs are still quivering.

-I walk into the girls' bedroom one day and notice a new decoration on the wall above the dresser. Emily, the creative one, took the pink and black frame of a clock which no longer worked and turned it into a typical, girlish-looking motto. Her choice of quote reveals as much of her character as does her uneven hand:
"Idleness is a constant sin, and labor is a duty. Richard Baxter"

-"Has anyone seen the book I was reading?" the question comes from Josh as he crashes onto the sofa. "Is it a blue book?" wonders Derek. "Mm, I don't think so," I reply absent-mindedly, dicing another mango into the fruit salad I am preparing for supper. "Cause the blue book is in the chicken pen," Derek continues helpfully. "The- what did you say?" the rest of the mango drops into the bowl with a splatter and I turn toward my small son. "And just what on earth is a book doing in the chicken pen, pray tell?!" Derek sighs -adults need so much explaining of the obvious- and reminds me that earlier in the day he brought a batch of eggs to the house in his backpack(!) which he emptied of his usual treasures in order to accomodate the eggs. After a short speech on carelessness, I accompany him to the chicken coop where we find in the nesting boxes, the blue book, an undressed doll, sunglasses, several scraps of fabric, a keychain, and a short piece of PVC pipe.

-Then there is the sick night, wherein four out of five children take sick and three out of four fail to reach the proper destination in time. I spare you details. Only let it be known that the father of those children deserves prizes for Cleaning Nasty Stuff in the Middle of the Night.

-I am a very blessed woman.