the stuff that moms are made of

There are several household items for which you would gladly do a commercial, among them the Magic Eraser (Did you know they take the bicycle marks off your cars?), Spray and Wash Stain Stick (Kiss the grass, mud, and spaghetti stains goodbye!), and Heinz Ketchup in the giant bottle (It lasts for at least two meals!).

Some of your favorite photos of your babies are when they're bawling their eyes out.  For whatever reason, they never fail to bring a smile to your face.

You contemplate making your kids drink out of sippy cups into their twenties, because, let's face it, you just don't want to clean that mess up.

You finally get a kid-free hour/night/weekend at home, and all you can think about is how deathly quiet it is around the house.   And what do people do when the kids aren't around anyway?

You realize on the trip to the restroom that you've been banished to the unofficial "kid-section" of a restaurant.  There are families on this side, couples and individuals on that side.  And really, you don't blame the restaurant for doing it that way.

You watch your kids instinctively flock to the pantry after school and grab for the most unhealthy thing they can find.  Since it's just an hour from dinner, you allow them to share a fruit roll up.  Now, any time your three year old is given a fruit roll up, you watch and smile as she automatically tears it in half to share with her big brother.

You are certain more toothpaste has ended up on the bathroom rug and down the drain than have ever actually gotten onto the toothbrush.

While you know you should be happy that your children are independent, if you hear "I want to do it by myself" one more time, you are resigning your position as the mom.  Clearly they have it all figured out on their own.

Speaking of know-it-alls, your three year old has vehemently argued with you that your infant's name is *not* Sarah Katherine as you claim, but that it's actually Sarah Bear or maybe Sarah Bear-uh.  After all, that is what you call her.

He might be weird but your son loves his chore chart, and you are totally capitalizing on that.  Do you think six years old is too young to cut the grass?  Change the oil?  Re-shingle the roof?