mothering small children

Are you wondering if your parenting is inadequate? Well, I hate to be the one to tell you, but it is. You’re an inadequate mother. And I am too!! Nothing brings this realization closer than spending 12 hours with three children under the age of five. I know these are both the easiest and the hardest years of parenting, so I’m cool without the reminder that they will grow up so fast and just wait til she’s a teen. I also know that I only have three irrational kids so my friends with more–I’m on easy street. Let’s throw in that I’m not currently pregnant and therefore not throwing up everywhere all the day long. In an ideal world: we would all have a nice sleep, awaken refreshed, I would lovingly awaken and dress my children, and enjoy our breakfast in peace and harmony before commencing homeschool preschool. Back to reality: It was an agonizingly long morning pre-breakfast involving SuperBoy jumping into our bed forty-five seconds after his dad had bolted out the back door: so 6:30:45::: and me threatening, bribing, stage-whisper yelling at him to keep away from the sleeping BabyLoves who had casually sprawled his twenty pound 3 foot long 8 month old baby body all over the bed because that stinker had just gone back to sleep, complete with a 7:00am SweetPea shimmying her way in the door frame, past the gate that’s wedged there to keep our waring cats from each other’s furry neck holds, remarking loudly, I MADE A…