7:00

It's seven o'clock in the evening, and I am enjoying something that every mother deserves: silence. The girls are in bed (whether or no they're asleep doesn't matter), and Edwin has been blessedly, quietly asleep since six without any waking up and screaming every 30 minutes.

Just when you think that your temper is going to explode and your sanity make a hasty exit out of the back door, evenings like these happen. Which in reality is just a dirty trick because it lulls you into a false sense that you can handle the situation. It gives you just enough of a break in the chaos to be able to barely handle the next wave of insanity.

My mother is fond of saying that the only reason that women have more than one child is because of maternal amnesia. It's a good thing, too, otherwise we might be closing up shop earlier than expected.