My Mommy Certificate Has Expired

I think my Mommy Certificate has expired.

You know, that certificate they award you when your first child is born...the one that enables you to be two places at once, see out of the back of your head,  answer a hundred questions before coffee, arbitrate small wars over the last cookie and large wars over curfews, cheerfully read "Lightning Larry" for the four hundredth time,  all while rescuing the cat from becoming the new bath toy and your best saucepan from being used to fill the freshly dug pond in the flower bed. 

I think those certificates have a time limit on them.

Last week I got a call from my son.  "Mom", he queried,  "Can you do me a favor?"  "It depends on the favor." I reply.  (No dummy this mom...I've learned to hedge my answers!)  "Could you watch the kids. We're on the way to the hospital."  No hedging on that...that's what families do.  "Drop them off on the way and keep us informed!", I answered. 

My daughter-in-law had been suffering all week with a major reaction to some medication.  Miserable, she had toughed it out as long as she could.  In a few minutes, I was standing in the drive-way, surrounded by three little ones, waving as mommy and daddy  drove away. 

In a short while my son called and said they were sending her to the hospital in Lexington.  There a team of doctors would spend the next week getting the reaction under control. 

So, suddenly, I had three little ones to take care of and get to school and activities.  Thank goodness for cell phones.  First call. "Uh, what time does school start?" 

Usually you have a little time to work into this life.  All of a sudden we were back to juggling supper, homework, baths, bedtime, clothes, early wake ups and rushing off to school.  Then there were the football practices, games, and dance class. 

We got them to school on time every day.  They were clean, dressed and fed.

We were exhausted!

However, there were compensations.  The hill rang once again with the sounds of kick ball in the back yard  and children's voices as they helped feed the cattle.  Even the old farm bell was called back into service to round everyone up for bath time.  My favorite time was snuggling in bed with the smell of fresh washed children wafting over me, while we read bedtime stories.  Eye-lids drooping as we neared the end of the nightly "Lightning Larry" and "Mr. Putter gets a Cat", heads getting heavy and finally only quiet little sighs.  (Then the kids would go to sleep, too.)

The struggles were getting everyone fed, clothes washed, house picked up, errands run, kids collected, and extra-curricular activities squeezed in.  Getting organized enough to run a tight ship and keep everyone on schedule was a challenge for us.  Hubby found himself pitching in and running kids to school, supervising baths, and helping pick up.  The kids were great at telling us what we needed to do and where we needed to be. 

By the end of the week we had our routine down pat.  I was proud of us all --kids and grandparents alike!

Our daughter-in-law is home now, and doing much better.  The kids are sleeping in their own beds and we are back to occasional grandparent duties.  However, if I am honest, I'll have to admit that I enjoyed having them here.  I miss hearing them tearing up the sidewalk, yelling that they're hungry, after school.  I enjoyed having them doing homework in the kitchen while I started supper or playing outside the window while I cleaned up.  I even miss the water all over the bathroom after baths.

However, if I'm still being honest, I'll have to admit that it took me days to rest up.  I just don't move at that speed, all day, every day anymore. 

My Mommy Certificate has definitely expired.