My arms ache; my shoulders sag.
That twinge in my back is becoming a drag.
I’m exhausted, irritable, heavy-eyed, and crabby.
It’s been a long day of dealing with three babies.

Dirty diapers, baths, feeding and play-time.
Interspersed with too few minutes of precious nap-time.
What constitutes fun for one, is anathema to another
Heaven help me! Why do I even bother?

Tantrums, yells, cries, and shrieks.
Howls, screeches, bellows, and screams.
The noise levels in my house have reached alarming heights.
And that’s only me, at first light!

While one uses crayons to create crazy mosaics on the floor
Another employs the phone to produce home repair videos 
The third adds spice by biting everything in sight
Together they produce singularly epic circus acts each night!

Ah, blessed peace, they’re finally asleep.
What cherubic faces, when they aren’t up to mischief.
I look at those three sleeping babies
And despite myself, feel something warm well up inside me

Yes it’s tiring, frustrating, demanding, and thankless.
Yes the hours are long (soo wearyingly long!)
And there’s no privacy, very little time for personal hobbies, 
Or even space to think!

But I remember those small arms that wrap themselves around my neck
Those damp, grubby, sticky cheeks that press close against mine
Those toothy grins, guileless smiles, and twinkling eyes
Those little bodies that want me to tuck them in each night.

Yes, they are a handful
And they keep my days full
But they are pieces of my heart
So I think to myself – it’s worth it, after all.


- R. D. P.