I started working again last week. More or less, I have been out of the work-force since late 1998, when my daughter was born. For those, like me, who are math impaired…that’s nine years.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve kept pretty busy with my two preemie kids. For awhile, my son’s therapy, doctor’s appointments, insurance hassles and healthcare needs were a full-time job. But now, he’s five and in preschool. He even eats lunch there. He doesn’t need me so much anymore.

My daughter has become little Miss Self-Sufficient lately. I woke the other day to find her in the kitchen packing her lunch for school. Little does she know, her chore list is about to get a lot longer. Momma’s gonna need a hand.

That leads me to the real purpose of this post. I have always given accolades to working Moms and Dads (to the youngsters in the house…that means something like mad props). But, I was short-changing them by saying things like, “I don’t know how you do it”. I should’ve been saying, “You are amazing because you do it”. People who have something left to give to their kids when they have been working all day…well quite frankly, that’s just unbelievable…and at this point, it baffles me.

I’m still trying to find out how it works, how you juggle all these responsibilities. But, I’m excited and ready for the challenge. I want my children to know that you need to be determined and keep your nose to the grindstone. I want them to see that you can have your cake and eat it too. That you can be a successful employee, a caring Mom, a great friend, and still have time to take care of yourself!

Either that, or I’ll show them that if you bite off more than you can chew, you end up choking and falling over dead. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

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Did you ever notice how many things no one tells you about parenting before you have kids? I’m not talking about how you’ll never sleep again. Plenty of people told me that. No, I mean the little things. For instance, no one ever told me…

That I would keep empty water bottles in my car for my son to pee in when we’re on the road.

That my longest fingernail would become the “booger-picker-outer”, and if that didn’t work, I’d retrieve boogers with a toothpick.

That I would wipe snot off my son’s face with a leaf.

That kids like to hide things around the house and you won’t find them for a long, long time. Things like cups full of milk, dirty underwear, and sandwiches.

That it’s necessary to cheat at Chutes and Ladders, or else the game goes on forever.

That poop becomes hard and crusty when removed from a diaper and smeared onto a coffee table.

That I would actually say things like, “You’re not allowed to stick your finger in the dog’s butt” or “You can’t drink water out of the toilet”.

Or, that I would have to call poison control, because my daughter would drink the toilet water anyway.

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At the grocery store the other day, I was approached by a man. Yes, you read that correctly. I was approached by a man. Me! An upper-30ish…uh…”big-boned” woman, who not only still gets zits on my face, but who currently also has two zits ON MY NECK…approached BY A MAN.

He walked over, smiled and said, “I really like your glasses.” Oh, did I forget to mention that? I wear glasses too.

Nevertheless, I thanked him. Then he responded, “No. I really like them.”

Again I said, “Thank you.”

Then he pulled his cart next to mine, leaned closer and whispered, “I was just distracting your daughter. I wanted to let you know that I heard you tell her to get some Shredded Wheat, but instead she put a box of Lucky Charms in your cart”.

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