And a year later...

Funny, we're just recovering from a very similar illness almost a year later! Nothing like fun in the Elsholz house. However, all of the noisemakers are on the mend and at different houses tonight. The 3 younger ones to Aunt Kay's (yay! Spongebob and Beverly Hills Chihuahau and candy and staying up later than 8 p.m.!) and Niles is at a friend's house. Keyla (sweet, sweet Keyla from Bolivia, by way of Spain) has to stay here because play rehersal. She's a dedicated little sweetie).
With the quiet being so deafening, it has allowed me to think about all of their little faces and realize, Wow, I am the mother of 4 boys. Sure, maybe that's obvious to some, but really stopping to think about what it means is crazy.
It means:

-my boys will always think that I love cleaning so they do me favors by making a new mess every 32 and a half seconds
-my house will never be clean
-it will always stink like something quite unpleasant
-according to the younger ones, I'll always win best cuddler award
-quiet rooms are for sissies
-any bodily function that makes a good noise is probably the funniest thing in the universe
-animals, creatures, slimey things are always welcome
-energy is boundless...until it is time to clean
-The love that is shown is not thrown around mamby-pamby, it reveals itself in sweet little ways that can make a grown man cry.

Because of the little arms that reach around my neck or the teenager who puts his arm around me, I'm able to keep going, when really all I want is a hot bath and a long nap.