Wake up because of frantic, fighting kids, one of them having dirtied the floors and the stairs as she'd run all around the house trying to get disgusting cat poop off of her feet. The cat had been slipped chocolate the day before by one of the children, so she had diarreah and left evidence of being sick upstairs and down in an effort not to get scolded for going potty in the house all in one place. Everybody needed me all at once, and nobody could do a thing on their own. One of the children wailed and pounded relentlessly, having locked himself in the bathroom and could not open the door. Add in unannounced visitors showing up while I was in bedhead mode with no makeup on, in the middle of a totally trashed house, holding poopy rags in my hand. Not to mention a baby screaming for milk while wearing an uncomfortable full diaper.

Thinking about this makes me sigh and chuckle. These were typical days in my past, having 4 babies all in diapers at one time in my life. In fact, I remember at one point in my life, not eatting a hot meal for months, as babies always needed something and my plate of food was put on hold. Oh, gee, that's dating myself, that was before I had a microwave.

By contrast, yesterday may have seemed to be a pretty uneventful day for me, especially for single adults. I disagree. Yesterday was so peaceful and easy that it was probably the most noteworthy day in many years for me. Sibling rivalry was at an all-time minimum, with my children actually reminding one another that they needed to get along for Mom. Wow!

I have to admit that part of the reason that Mother's Day went so well was because I decided not to make anybody do anything. This took care of not having any conflicts or disobedient behavior. So yeah, I cheated. And I'm glad I did. Of course, I can't not require anything of my children as a matter of daily life, but it served it's purpose yesterday in giving me a day of rest and relaxation. All glorious day!

It also seemed like everything went well all day, no matter what it was. When I took my shower, I was only disturbed by one phone call rather than children hollering and screaming like they were being assaulted by violent machette weilders who were chasing them around. When I wrote my article for my column at Examiner.com, I didn't have to do any research, except to hunt for youtube videos that were enjoyable to listen to, and brought me happy tears. The videos that I was checking into to post were all versions of "You and me against the world" and "In my daughter's eyes". I watched most of "Bolt" with my children. They do appreciate having me watch movies with them, you know. It is a treat for them, but it is usually a chore for me because I have so many other things that I need to be doing, and so I mostly do what I must and catch just a few minutes here and there.

I got a few gifts that showed me that people really do honor me or even just think of me from time to time. My youngest child made me some artistic creation that was special. Ana chose some chips for herself when I treated my kids at the store that we'd walked to early in the day, which she had actually chosen to be able to give them to me as a gift. My very good friend, Eric, came by and blessed my heart with his yellow rose and his presence. He didn't even mention that my home and I were a mess. And he read my column. I consider it a special honor and I feel valuable to him when he takes the time to read what I have written. He also drove me to a carniceria to get some arrachera preparada, that is easy to cook and que rico!

We all had to get ready for church later, though. And everyone co-operated with my instructions to pick up around, get dressed, and get into the car. Sweet! I am so glad that we went to Mass last night. It turned out that it was a celebration for Catholic young people who were being confirmed. Mass went on longer than usual because of the celebration. Yet what was wonderful about that being on Mother's Day was that there couldn't have been a better example of young people standing up and speaking to the parish about God and our faith for my children to witness. How good God is to have this event scheduled on Mother's Day, for what better thing is there in the whole world for mothers than to have our children present where young people, who they identify with, are standing up for Christ.

Javier made my day yesterday. He cleaned out the BBQ grill, got the fire going, kept the fire going, barbequed the meat for over an hour, maintained a safe worksite, fanned the flames, didn't mind being served last, doused the hot coals, and cleaned up after himself. And all of it without me telling him much of anything. I did have to stop him from putting more lighter fluid on the hot coals a couple of times when huge flames suddenly appeared a couple of times well after the coals were hot. But hey, this was his first try at and being totally in charge of barbequeing. Awesome job, son! Your helpfulness, selflessness, and being so responsible makes me cry happy tears.