Just an example of this stage in my life...I know it will pass too quickly

Your toddler wakes up at 6am freezing because he wet his bed and wants to climb into yours, then begs you for breakfast while you ignore the request trying to squeeze in a few more minutes of sleep, this lasts until you leap to your feet when you hear the gallon of milk spill all over the kitchen floor, you rush in and have to decide if your going to be upset about it or not, then your kids are upset because you didn’t pour enough milk in their bowl, you suggest if they’re not content with what’s for breakfast, then they are excused to get dressed for preschool in their room, later you go into their rooms to find they’ve pulled out all their clean clothes from their drawers and have mixed them with the dirty clothes as they’ve piled up all the clothes to jump into while only wearing their underwear, you create a “clean up” game on the spot to get them to put away their clothes and do their laundry and after 45 minutes you’ve tackled 25% of the mess. 

Then you look at your watch you’ve got 15 minutes till school begins, accept you’ll be late, throw clothes at kids to put on, they don’t like what you’ve chosen so you leave the room instructing them to pick out an outfit and get in the car, go get the baby who’s blown out his jammies and needs a bath, no time, wipe him down with a wet wipe, dress the squirming little one, throw soiled clothes and bedding in wash, load everyone in the car, quickly prepare milk for baby, a semi-healthy lunch for the kids, lick the peanut butter knife as you need a little protein to keep you going, leap in the car planning the fast route to school, v.t. companion calls to remind you of appointments schedule, hugs/kisses send kids to school whom you just realized are wearing mismatched clothing, one forgot his shoes and they’re strutting bedhead, switch cd in car from kids songs to Hillary Weeks seeking some inspiration from the Spirit that you can say what the sisters need to hear, after a moment of putting life in perspective as you learn the trials of another, you put on the “I’m so thankful for my life” shirt and head off to quickly grab a few necessities from the store before picking up kids.  

Head home for what you feel is a “prized possession” of the day...naptime.  Read stories about king cobras, farm animals, and jungle sounds, pat backs, blow kisses, feel a sense of “yes, my time!”, straighten up a bit, switch out laundry, send emails out for church calling, hide in the garage while making phone calls as to carefully not wake up the kids, read an Ensign article, debate if it’s worth taking a 15 minute power nap or if you’ll be more grumpy because it wasn’t long enough, the baby wakes making the decision for you, you sneak in a little one on one playtime of peak-a-boo, the other two wake, make snack, and head outside for some bike riding and frog finding, have a quick lesson on sharing after punches were thrown, kiss a few knees, start dinner, rejoice when dad gets home as he brings so much comfort to our lives, family dinner, dishes, encourage clean up of toys, colors, the cool tent they made out of blankets with dad, forgo bathtime as one more day won’t really hurt, read scriptures with kids, prayers, snuggles, lights out.  

Dad and I look at each other decide if we want to work on a project or just go to bed.  Spend some downtime and just before we go to bed, we sneak a glimpse of the most precious sleeping kids in the world...ours.  Say our prayers and thanks the Lord for the most wonderful day together and pray for many more just like it.  

I like how Hillary Weeks put it, “Extraordinary moments happen during ordinary days.”