"Mommy's not here right now... please leave a message after I've had my coffee..."

I am now the proud owner of 3 sons. Almost 4, almost 2 and almost 2 months... If I admit their true ages (31/2, 22 months and 7 weeks) people reliably raise their eyebrows to phathom the reality and the audacity of my fertility: "You've been busy, "So close..." "Wow, mom's got her hands full." Yes, yes and yes.

I know.

What does one reply?

"Yeah... my husband and I just can't keep our hands off eachother." (TMI for a stranger)

"They're not all mine"?

Oh, but they are. All mine. And I love them.
I find that nowadays it's easy to get bogged down and dragging. The energy tank runs on fumes.
I tire of hearing, "mom... Mom... MOM...MOMMY MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM...!"
Drive a sane person insane... but really the term should be "out of sane."
So I drift off in thought about an answering maching: "Mommy's not here right now... please leave a message."
And wouldn't it be lovely if my children actually respected the system to leave a detailed message after the tone. Then mommy will return their call as soon as she has had more coffee.

"A two headed bird"
My young son exclaimed
"Look, mommy, look"
Is it true what he claimed?

I looked out the window
Puzzled and impressed
When I saw it
That thing my young son expressed

But how do I explain it
Without ruining a thing?
How do I explain to my 3 year old
What two birds do in the Spring?

Girls, Play With Bugs

I was privileged to witness the blossoming of a "women are from Venus, men are from Mars" moment: a moment that transpired between my 3yr old son, Jude, and a fellow classmate, Kate. Kate's mother approached me after picking our kids up from school.
"Kate was telling me she wanted to marry a prince. I asked her which one, thinking it was Prince Charming or Philip. But Kate replied,'Jude.'"
When Kate saw Jude outside, she batted her little eyelashes and said,"Hi, Jude. Will you marry me?"
Jude was oblivious to sweet little Kate's proposal as he was too preoccupied with squishing the ants and looking for rolly pollies on the ground.
The scene reminded me that those moments never end. Too often women are speaking from their heart... exposing their innermost desires. And the men... those men... are completely oblivious.
So, what to do?
Well, I personally prefer Kate's approach:
After realizing her Prince Jude was more interested in bugs than in listening to her, she turned her attention to the ants and the rolly pollies too.
If Prince Jude wasn't interested in matrimony, at least Princess Kate could be interested in bugs.
And they played happily ever after.