Mommy mind

"In raising my children, I have lost my mind but found my soul."
Lisa T. Shephard

I have posted this quote before, but I honestly can't think of another saying the completely sums up motherhood. I love my children (and my husband) with all my heart and soul, but they do drive me crazy. I have been known to forget, cry and yell about small things, and I am glad I am not alone in this. I have heard this feeling of craziness brought on by children termed as "Mommy Mind" - a condition deserving of alliteration. Of course, on this Mother's Day, a perfect example of this heart-warming love and extreme frustration would play out. Given today was Sunday and Mother's Day, I was so looking forward to sleeping in, but I am a mom, and moms don't sleep in. A little after 6 am this morning, I heard a small child stirring. She came to our bedroom door, peeked in, realized we were still sleeping, and very loudly shut the door. Making a tremendous amount of noise, she realized she had shut the door all the way and decided to open it back up, only to accidentally slam it shut again. I was sure all this noise would wake up her brother, so I sternly whispered/quietly yelled at her to leave the door alone and go back into her bedroom. To my surprise, she obeyed, and I didn't hear her brother wake up for another 10 whole minutes. Upon his arrival at our bedroom, his sister loudly whispered that we were still sleeping. (Was I sleeping? No. Trying to ignore my children? Yes.) But he had to see for himself, and once again, there was the opening and slamming of the door with a bit of staring in between. Once our kids verified we were in fact "asleep", I didn't hear them again. One of our house rules is that kids are not allowed downstairs until 7 am, and since it was still long before then, I assumed they were in one of their bedrooms playing quietly. I tried to doze back to sleep, but in a little while, I heard footsteps again. This time they were coming up the stairs. I wondered how I hadn't heard the kids go down the stairs in the first place and was ready to jump out of bed to say something to them about breaking this rule. Just as I was about to get up, my son arrived at the side of my bed with a big plate of toast, balancing a glass of OJ in the center. Yes, they were driving me crazy so early in the morning while I tried to sleep, but who could be mad at them for being so thoughtful and warming my heart?