I obviously need some help!

When Brooks was about 6 months old, running errands with 3 kids actually got a little easier. I even started to feel confident that I could go to more then one place before I would lose my sanity. It was on a good day such as this that we had to run into Ben Franklin crafts, and then hit the grocery store, all in one trip. I picked up a few "must-have" items at the craft store, and was walking next door to Ukrop's with a diaper bag over one shoulder, the baby seat hooked on one arm and 2 young sons trailing behind. Things were going so smoothly that there might as well have been happy music playing in the background, and cute little birds perching on our shoulders.

Then I hear a voice behind me. "Ma'am... Ma'am... you dropped this."

I turned around and saw a man holding out a burp cloth. I took it graciously, and he asked if these were ALL my children. I was stunned for a second and started counting to myself, "1-2-3... it's not THAT many, is it?"

The next words that were uttered, literally stopped me in my flip flops... "Wow, you obviously need some help... if you need any help in there, just let me know." (cue background music that screeches to silence, followed by crickets chirping.)

Is it possible that I looked more out of control then I felt? Is it possible that I needed all the help I could get as I casually walked from one store to the other with 3 children? Not 10 children... just 3! Sure, I had dark circles under my eyes, my clothes were a bit wrinkled and I probably had baby spit-up on one shoulder. But everyone was happy and content, and I guarantee that the first-time mom around the corner looked just as ragged as me. Whether you have 1 kid or 12... being a mom is tough. So, did I deserve any more special treatment?

Ever since this little "incident", I have noticed that almost everywhere I go, someone stops me to remark on the number of children I have. "Wow! You sure have your hands full, don't you?" ... "Three boys, eh?" ... "My, you're outnumbered!"

Now it's confession time... I have been guilty of giving a second or third look when I saw a woman in Target that was literally crawling with 8 children under the age of 10. They were all very well-behaved and were no more then 3 feet from her side at any given time, but the shear numbers made her very interesting to watch. But seriously, is 3 children the new 8? I didn't think so. But if that's the case, then I REALLY deserve a break!