I’m not going to lie; life with four small kids can be hard. When people find out how many children I have and their ages the first question is always, “Do you have any help?” Because I get this question so often, almost daily in fact, I have begun to take a long hard look at my life.

I was pretty bummed last night when my sweet husband subtly pointed out that the chair in our bedroom is not really a chair anymore. It’s more of an extension of my closet. I know, I know, it doesn’t belong like that, but I just can’t seem to get to it to clear away the clothes and the clutter. Additionally, the laundry baskets have made a permanent indentation on the carpet in the hallway near the laundry room. And although, I have started organizing and de-cluttering around the house, my projects have been left for days, sometimes weeks, until I can get to them again. My fingernails and toes are sorely in need of some TLC and I feel the pressure of my blog topics piling up on me, as I never lack material only the time to get it all out.

This week has been a very hard one. I am amazed that I am holding it all together. It is Passover for us Jewish folk and not only have I been struggling getting my kids to eat, I have been dealing with sick kids, and rain.

Monday was Olivia’s first day back to school after a two-and-a-half week spring break. My hallelujahs were quickly stifled as Rocky threw up on herself just as we were leaving the house to take the girls to school. It had been her second throw-up of the morning and with just minutes before school was to start, I found myself dialing like mad to call a friend, who lives just up the street, to see if she could take Olivia to school for me. Thankfully she was just leaving and was able to help me out.

I got the kid cleaned up and took Georgia to school next. The rest of the day felt like I was stuck in a laundry mat as I dealt with the cleanup and the whiniest two-year-old ever. She refused to eat anything that resembled matzo crackers and at one point I had to stop her from scrounging up old goldfish crackers from the floor of the van.

My older two kids were sent to school with lunches resembling a little kid version of the Atkins diet, deli meat and cheeses and a yogurt. When I got to their lunch pails later in the day, I noticed the only thing they didn’t eat in their lunch was the matzo I had packed. I knew then that my children were going to struggle with food this week.

My day was bookended by Olivia coming home with the notorious blue tote bag signifying that she was Tuesday’s Child of the Day. Although I really wanted to be happy for her, because don’t you know it is an honor to be Child of the Day, I couldn’t get past the fact that now I had to go to the grocery store. The blue tote also signifies the need to bring snack with your Child of the Day. I wondered how we got so luck to be day one back to school after break and be number one in line for snack duty? Darn blue tote bag!

So here I am on Thursday, typing my blog one-handed as my infant nurses and sleeps in my lap. I was really worried about what to make for dinner tonight. I’ve decided that although living a gluten-free life would be ideal for the health of my family, I really do miss it. All of my creative recipes have failed. Matzo pizza, quinoa mac and cheese, nothing has satisfied the palates of my picky eaters. They are more or less choosing not to eat right now, undoubtedly holding out until Passover passes.

I love my kids and I am happy for the most part but I think it is okay to acknowledge that I’m having a tough week. I ended up being saved from figuring out dinner when my dad, who just flew in for a visit, took us out. We did not enforce Passover while out and my children ate as if they were heading into battle tomorrow. It was a lovely dinning experience out and I’m grateful for family friendly establishments like Beyond The Glory that make dining out with four children both enjoyable and affordable.

There it is, my status update. It feels good to catch up. I remain ever optimistic that some weeks are going to be harder than others. It is life. I know that it will ebb and flow. We are ebbing right now but it has helped me remembering that eventually it will flow again. Throughout, I really try to maintain a sense of humor about it all, keeping a barf bucket within reaching distance just in case.