Poker Mom

Life.

It can be...

a beach.

a bitch.

or like a box of chocolates.

Well, I think mine is like a poker game.

Each day, sometimes each moment, I am dealt a new hand.

Sometimes I get a "pair". It could be "aces" like when the girls work together to get Anthony through a rough time. Yesterday we went to Como zoo and he wouldn't get out of the car. Together I just watched the two of them go through all kinds of ideas and suggestions to get him through it and out of the car. And they did.

Somtimes I get a "run". Actually, I just run. I run to doctor's appointments, the grocery store, therapy centers, the post office, school, many others, and if I am lucky... I run to the cabin.

Sometimes I get a "flush". Now one of my favorite sounds- is when I send Anthony to the bathroom, and I get a "flush". Since he is now 11 and he first went potty on the toilet when he was 2, I have officially been potty training for 9 years. We are doing great now. As long as I remind him to go, he gets there, and he stays dry all day and night. He is now even wearing underwear!! The "Royal Flush" is a "you know what" in the toilet, that I don't have to change.

Sometimes I get a "full house". This can be when we actually do have a full house with all five of us, maybe some friends and family visiting too. But mostly, it's when I have all 3 kids needing something at the same time, the phone is ringing, the paperwork is calling me, and the dinner is about to burn.

Sometimes I get a "straight". Or, more appropriately, I keep our life straight. All the appointments, bills, paperwork, doctors, teachers, homework, meals, laundry, cleaning, jobs, activities and schedules. I work very hard to keep it all straight.

Emma is usually my "joker" as our comedic relief.

The "odds" are almost never in my favor.

Every activity can pose to be a "longshot".
Especially when Anthony will take off one direction, and the girls go the other in a largely public place and I have to decide, QUICK, which way to go.

I am always "an active player". But I am pretty sure I don't get a lot of chances to be the dealer. A lot of my days would not be this "dealer's choice."

I may not want to be somedays, but I am "all-in".

The therapists, doctors, and teachers keep raising the "ante".

Thanks to a lot of reading and online research,

I do have an "edge" over some other players I know.

Since I have 4 jobs starting this Fall, house cleaning, daycare, babysitting and a standardized patient at Northwestern college - I am officially a "jack" of all trades. (and the master at none.)

There are a lot of days I want to just "fold". But I can't even "pass".

This is my job, my life, and actually my choice to stay in the game. I could quit, a lot of people do.

But I can't. I just can't.

I might not get dealt a very good hand on a day to day basis,

and I am pretty sure I am not always working with a full deck.

The real "deal" is that most of the time I don't even know how to play and if I do anything right, some could "call it" "Beginners Luck".

But my kids are "three of a kind". They make the game worth it.

So all my "chips" are always on the table.

I have a "legitimate hand".

And my only "poker face" is a smile.