Let me tell you why I'm mother of the year.

1. My children have been wearing pajamas, often the same pajamas for several days at a time. We only dress if we're leaving the house.

2. They have also watched the same movie, ("Dis-mick-a-mull Me) three times in as many days.

3. The Awana Grand Prix is Monday. We haven't cut Thing One's car yet.

4. Three words: The laundry situation

5. Last night, I couldn't find socks for Thing Two to wear under his galoshes, so he just went without.

6. There aren't any clean teaspoons in this house.

7. I often send them to shower or bathe simply because it keeps them busy for twenty minutes.

8. When Thing Two wakes up at the crack of dawn, I don't greet him with a smile. Instead he gets "Why are you up already?"

9. The other day they spent the majority of their waking hours stabbing a big empty cardboard box with pencils. It delighted them. This has to reflect poorly on me somehow.

10. Thing Two's face at this moment is so dirty, he looks a bit like a street urchin in "Newsies."

But you know what? I'm very happy with all this. I may not be a Stepford Wife these days, but it's a far cry from the two months I was bedridden or stuck kneeling at the porcelain throne. At least now, I'm aware that they live with me. They are eating healthy meals instead of a breakfast of Starbursts (yes, that did happen once). They have been cared for when they were sick and we're doing school again.

I'll take it.