Desperation

A stack of unopened mail conceals the hairbrush underneath. Walking through the small house once again, she is getting angrier by the second that not one of the three hairbrushes is anywhere in sight.

The baby comes running down the hallway. "I see you found a hairbrush," she says, trying to snatch it away quickly.

Not taking the loss well, he stomps his little feet and knocks over the tub of toys in the hallway. Next, he goes into attack mode and bites his mom as she tries to run a brush through her now semi-damp, semi-styled hair.

"Oh, forget it," she mutters handing the brush back to him. "Happy?" His grin disarms her somewhat. Walking back toward the toys, she bends to scoop them back up.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees her oldest charge down the hall, knocking baby and brush into the wall.

Breathing deeply, she reminds herself that children are a blessing. Scooping up the hysterical one, she takes him to the sad place in the hallway and lets him bang the heck out of the chime that hangs just out of reach, perfect for occasions such as this.

"Please be careful and watch for your brother," she warns the offender, who spies the brush that has been abandoned. Picking it up, he banged his way down the hallway. Seeing his brother take away his prize causes more fits.

"It's only 9:30 a.m." she says to herself. She release the baby and watches as he heads to the back room. She sinks down and finishes the toy task.

Hearing the washer, she rushes to change the load before she forgets. A pan skids across the kitchen floor as her precious baby has found a new way to pass the Saturday morning.

From her vantage point, she sees the dishes from breakfast covering the counter, the pans and most of her plasticware strewn about the kitchen floor, the pile of toys carelessly tossed next to the toybox in the front room and she doesn't even have to look to know all the toys in the backroom have been dumped out as well.

"It's only 9:35 a.m." she repeats as the phone rings. Grateful for the distraction, she hears her mom's voice.

It's only a quick call, but the new destruction to her house is quickly apparent.

Thinking back to a few days before when she had worked hard to clean her house, she really wanted to cry. Such a crappy cycle, and I'm stuck in the middle of it, she thought.

Losing all interest in cleaning, she sits down and tries to concentrate on her adorable boys. Now that the house is trashed and she is sitting down to play with them, the pair has decided to play quietly on their own.

The minutes tick by until she decides to make an early lunch. One way or another, she was taking a nap today. The laundry, kitchen, piles of toys, the upopened mail and unbalanced checking account would have to wait.

This momma needed some rest.