Mom's Hours of Operation: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

I think moms need a 'Moms Hours of Operation' clause in our contracts. I will certainly fix boo boos, make three meals + snacks, read books, attend to needs/issues/complaints, etc. But this cannot always extend into the early morning or late night hours. There have to be some limitations. No mom has that much patience and bandwidth. My kids are old enough now (4 and 2 1/2) to understand that mommy needs a break too. Yet sometimes I don't seem to be getting through.

My hours of operation in this house are from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with hopefully an hour of quiet time to myself. Although many times I regretfully don't get this hour. That's approximately 12 hours of kids, if you subtract the lunch hour. Twelve hours of She Hit Me, Where Are You?, He Painted on the Table, Where Are you Taking Us Now?, Can you Read Me a Book?, I Need a Snack, I Need More Ketchup, I Spilled My Water, I PeePeed on the Floor. You get the idea. You know the routine.

I think a 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. gig is fair enough. I do take into consideration potty training, illness, etc. that perhaps will take us into the wee hours of the night. But for the most part I'm a 13-hour gal. They don't even ask pilots to fly that distance and then wake up and do it all over again. Right?

Is it so much to ask that at 5:30 a.m. I'm not asked to make breakfast, chase away snakes or read a book? Another early morning for us today. I'm beat.