Make way for ducklings: Reality Check

I might have mentioned once or twice that I have a large family -  a fair number of kidletts.  People will ask me, "How do you do it all?"  They see my brood and the hustle and bustle and are often incredulous, and maybe a little freaked out (And probably thinking, "Whew, not me!).  Sometimes I smile and say, "The big kids help, it's not so much."  And that's true.  More often I might say, "I don't! I have help. It's one of the secrets to a big family: built in helpers."  Even more often, I say, "Well, I fail.  Every day."  And that's probably the most accurate of all.

Reality Check:  Sometimes, you have tough weeks.  Not even extra-ordinary weeks with some disaster that defines the days.  But rather, you have ordinary days, a week filled with laundry and school and  homework and juggling schedules.  But for some reason, that week is tough.  Sometimes, thankfully not so often, but sometimes....despite the standard mundane moments, it seems like every single person needs just a bit, or quite a lot, MORE, somehow.

On those days, that usual sense of paddling as fast as you can, maybe dropping a few balls here and there....kind of shifts.  
And then, you realize that you feel, for the moment, (to borrow an old phrase) like you are being pecked to death by baby ducks.

So, for those of you who wonder how any of us "do it all,"  I'd like to honestly say that some days you (ok, me)  just feel a little overrun, and maybe you (ok, me) fantasize for a moment or two about flights to faraway tropical islands - one way. So, that's part of the package.  Not all that rare I suspect.  But yeah, it's been one of those weeks.