It's a thankless job, but the benefits are incredible.

Getting the kids ready for school has been not the best. By that, I mean, a little slice of hell.

I reached a breaking point with them regarding this (as well as other things that made me thisclose to just walking out for the evening. If only Husband was home). On Wednesday, I sat them all down and we talked about it. I came up with some rules, to which they agreed to, and put them in play.

And it's been wonderful. Nothing is rushed. No feathers are ruffled. We (meaning I) even have time to relax before we start our day.

So when Middle Child wanted to talk this morning, we were afforded a nice long time. We needed it.

"So, you know this Mother's Day Tea Party my class is throwing for all the mums?" started Middle Child. "Yeah, well, you'll be getting a book that I made. I had to write about why I love you and about the nice things you do. Just so you know, it was late in the day and I was tired and I couldn't think of anything. Don't be shocked, okay?"

He couldn't think of a single thing. He wanted to, he said, but it was too taxing.

I asked if he felt that I loved him. I'm his mom, he said, and I have to. So from there, I gave him leaders on a few things that I do to show that I care. It took a while for Middle to get up that hill, but then it all hit him like a ton of bricks. When I mentioned that I quit my very good job to raise my children (I didn't get into the fact that I am a high risk for stress-induced miscarriage, of course), he was dumbfounded. And then he started to cry.

"Why don't you tell me all the great things you do for me?"

"Because telling you isn't important, but it's important that I do these things."

And then I got a rare Middle Child hug. It was better than the book.