A certain tone in the voice.

There's something about being 'the mother of many', a certain tone in the voice, a 6th sense. Back in the days when I had 3 under 3 I packed my hyperactive twins in the twin stroller, tied my hyperactive dalmation to the front handle, packed my baby in with her bothers & set of to pick up my eldest from school thinking the walk would be good for all of us.

Anyone who has used a side by side twin stroller knows how awkward & unweildly they can be. They really need a good pavement so I walked on the pavement side, which happened to NOT be the school side. When we reached the pedestrian crossing I could see my oldest waiting patiently as instructed by the gate. Rather than negotiate the broken dirt road I parked the stroller, jammed the brake on, told the dog to sit & the children to wait patiently while I crossed the road & picked up my son.

I turned round as I reached the other side to check on my littlies. Dinosauraus had hung over the side & released the brake. Theasaurus had climbed on the hood & was urging the dog into a trot, the baby had slid into the midlle partition & was pulling herself upright. Cars were whizzing up & down & the stroller was gaining momentum as the dog got into the swing of things. What was a mother to do? I did the only thing possible. I bellowed at the top of my lungs. 'SIT!' Five dogs, 4 children & one adult promptly sat ~ none of them mine!

I am not the hyperactive member of my family so I don't know how we have survived each other, but we have though all my children are inclined to want to organise me because, 'mother's not really the practical sort.' Funny thing is, I managed perfectly well before any of them came along & I expect to do just fine when they finally leave.