You know you're a mom when....

You know you are really a mom when you have to put going to the bathroom on a list. Seriously. It has to fall somewhere between the daily activities and two toddlers are certainly not understanding of someone else's bodily functions. Can't go until Ayla's used her potty in the living room. Can't go with half of the dishwasher emptied. Can't go while Jackson is having an epic head-pounding temper tantrum. Somewhere between almost needing a diaper myself and don't make me laugh!, I get to number #28 on the to the list and I get a moment to myself. Well, not exactly to myself - there's usually an audience because I can't get the door locked in time. The good point is that Ayla is very supportive. She uses the same appreciative tone that we used when she first started using the potty, "Good job, good job for going wee wee!"

You know you are the mom of a toddler when you have to look up answers to her WHY questions on Wikipedia. The response "because" just isn't cutting it anymore.

You know you are a mom of two toddlers when folding laundry is a self-defense sport. I probably started the fun, but my kids love to throw around clean laundry. Throw it down the stairs, throw it in big piles, bury siblings, knock it off the bed... which is cute for about 10 seconds. Then I become the mean task-master who actually has to sort and get these clothes into drawers.

You know you are a mom, when at the end of the day, you feel proud of the small accomplishments. Ayla and Jackson both brushed their teeth AND I got a good picture of it. One email was returned. I made dinner AND cleaned it up. We hugged, we read books and the cloth diapers were washed.

When I become overly frantic with tasks and projects and the frustration of another day being completely consumed with what exactly; I mentally remind myself that this is exactly what I should be doing. Perpetual messes aren't so terrible and my two little people couldn't care less about them. They are just fighting for a portion of the time I have to give. Like very aggressive cats. But it's all about balance and expectations. Is the house messy? Check. Am I exhausted? Check. Is the DVR almost full because we can't keep up with it? Oh check. When I measure my life in those terms - I'd much rather be lacking in my prime time tv (because you can just rent the whole season when it comes out on DVD!) than lacking in time with my family. They're only this little (and needy) for such a short time.

Seeing this kind of sibling love could turn any bad day around.