Chaos Unleashed

You know, just when it seems that I am on a roll, that I have this whole "life" thing figured out, something new and different comes up, a wrench in the works, so to speak. For example, I am specifically talking about this whole "working mother" thing. Now, I make no claim to be the world's best mother - I'm certainly not the mom baking cookies from scratch and dressing you in your homemade costume in the sparkling house. (As an aside, does that mom even really exist?) I'm not even, truly, the mom that keeps the house clean enough for company to drop in unexpectedly. At least, not company that would care that the leaves on the floor didn't just blow in; in fact, in my house, those leaves may have been laying there since October. Of 2003. But I do love my children, and I am there for them, and they are well fed and clothed and clean. And I like my job - don't get me wrong. I enjoy working as a legal assistant at a small law firm. I'm busy, and challenged, and every day is slightly different, and it's fabulous. But this balancing act - it's hard. Don't let anyone ever tell you differently. That mom that looks like she's got it all together? She's either faking it, or else her nanny and housekeeper have it all together for her. The past few days, two of my three boys have been sick. And that's hard. I swore I would never be the mom that dosed her children up with Tylenol and sent them to school anyway. And of course, the laundry is still not caught up. And the sink is full of dirty dishes, while the dishwasher is full of clean ones. And the boys' room looks like the aftermath of Tornado Rexrode. And I'm behind at work. And tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I'm supposed to make corn pudding and macaroni and cheese (twice each) for two different occasions.
I guess this is what life is like these days - always pulled in a thousand directions, always running to stay right where you are. I can handle that. I just wish someone would slow down the treadmill a little.