Lucas is a big fan of babies. He loves to gently rub their faces and kiss the tops of their heads. He even carries his stuffed Elmo around like a baby, wrapped in a blanket.

Today in the van on the way to dropping him off at day care, he was telling me that baby Elmo came out of his stomach but that he doesn't have any more babies in his tummy.

I was trying to tell him that's because only women have babies.

"No. Miss Mandy and Miss Mary have babies in their tummies," he said, referring to two teachers at the day care.

"They're women," I said.

"No, they're not," he said. "They're teachers."

There are some days when you just can't wait to have a moment of quiet and peace, and yesterday was one of them.

While we do enough running around at night normally, it really seems to pick up the pace in spring.

Yesterday, I returned home with Grace and Lucas after picking them up and after making a stop at the drug store. We had 15 minutes to put our stuff from the day away, eat and go to the bathroom before heading out the door for T-ball practice.

Benjamin and Gary, who is helping coach, had a great time at T-Ball, and so did Grace and Lucas, who got to run around the playground for an hour. I got time with other moms, and I love that. Grace and I also were able to ride our tag-along bike together for the first time this season, and that's one of my favorite warm-weather activities. I like to hear her observations as we are making our way around.

Once we got home there were baths and snacks and reading. There was going to be no "American Idol" for the kids this night since they were up late the night before. We probably should have just let them stay up and watch for the number of times they were up and down the stairs.

"Did anyone get voted off yet?" Benjamin asked repeatedly. Followed by his sister and brother.

After getting them settled, I started in on the weekly cleaning chores. Because Gary and I prefer to keep our weekends for fun with the family we try to get our household tasks out of the way during the week. That means we were up until 9:30 cleaning the house, getting things ready for today, doing a load of wash and filling out some paperwork we needed to get done.

But boy did it feel good once we were able to sit down and relax.

It was a busy night, but I probably wouldn't have it any other way. It makes me appreciate sitting that much more.

Because the kids were shy of sleep over the weekend, I told them Sunday night that if they fall asleep right away and don't fool around, they could stay up on Tuesday and watch "American Idol." I had forgotten that Benjamin had a late soccer game that night so we'd have to record the show and watch it later, which would mean the kids would really get to sleep late.

Sunday night the kids were in bed at 7 p.m. and didn't make a sound. They all knew they had "won" a night of watching "American Idol."

So last night after Benjamin's soccer game, we sat down to watch the taped show. We were able to move right through the talking parts and all the commercials so the singing part was really about 11 minutes.

Lucas is enthralled by the show. His favorites right now are David Archuleta, David Cook and Syesha Mercado -- all of them.

He was sitting in the chair watching, and he turned to tell me that he is going to be on "Can Idol" when he grows up.

"Mommy, you can be on 'Can Idol' now cause you already growed," Lucas said.

I've never been one to plunk the kids in front of the TV just to keep them occupied while I get ready in the morning, make dinner or finish some other task. I figure they can keep themselves busy with books, art supplies or toys.

Because Gary leaves for work in the morning before the kids are usually up and I'm still getting ready, I admit I've been tempted to just have the TV on all morning so the kids can park themselves in front of it while I take care of the other kids and finish getting ready myself. In front of the TV they don't get into as many arguments about someone grabbing their toy, not taking turns or not sharing. They stay quiet and out of the way during the morning rush.

As a treat, I let the kids watch PBS on Friday morning before we leave. But after this morning, I'm rethinking my TV policy.

Lucas and Benjamin were up especially early this morning. Once they got dressed and brushed their teeth and Ben ate his breakfast before school, they decided they would play in the basement. I checked on them a few times and they were doing nicely with the play kitchen.

At 7:45, Grace had just woken up and was getting herself dressed upstairs so I went downstairs to tell the boys to start cleaning up. We needed to leave in less than 15 minutes. I thought if everyone were ready early, we could go outside and hang out on the porch on this sunny morning.

That idea was quickly scrapped when I got a look at the floor. There was orange dots all over the carpeting. Lucas, who turns 3 next month, had opened up the bottle of waterproof orange paint that sits by the easel -- it's his favorite color!!! --- and gotten some on his hands and his feet, which explained the dots of orange splattered about.

Of course at this time, Lucas had to go to the bathroom, Grace needed help getting the strap on her dress done and the carpet needed to be cleaned immediately so the color wouldn't set in while we are gone.

I grabbed the carpet cleaner, spraying every orange dot I could see, and Benjamin helped Grace with her clothes. I think I got all the splatters all out, except for the ones that are now on my khaki pants. Well, at least they match the orange shirt I'm wearing.

Now ... I'm out of carpet cleaner, ready to hide the paints and thinking using the TV as a baby sitter isn't such a bad idea after all.

One of my pet peeves is when women don't give themselves enough credit for what they do. Have you ever heard someone say, "I'm just a mom"?

Moms are peacemakers. When a fight breaks out among siblings or among friends, we are there to right the wrongs, instill lessons in the importance of getting along, sharing, not hurting other people's feelings. We try not to take sides, instead choosing to stay neutral because that is what we are supposed to do.

Moms are doctors. When a child's cold seems to get worse, we are there to figure out just how bad the bug might be and whether medical intervention is necessary. Sometimes our job as a doctor requires us to be a detective as well, figuring out if the child's pain is from a tooth coming in or from an ear infection. Clues are helpful but not always provided.

Moms are cooks. We are the ones who make sure our charges are well-fed, receiving a well-balanced meal that is nutritious and delicious. We take comfort in how we can feed their tummies and also feed their souls.

Moms are teachers. We are our children's moral compass and first role models. We take great care in making sure we are on our best behavior in front of our kids because actions do speak louder than words.

We are acrobats, trying to maintain a balance for ourselves and our families. We are professional organizers, trying to keep up with appointments, sports practices, school events, birthdays and special occasions.

There's no taking off from parenthood, no vacation, no calling in sick.

There's nothing "just"about any of that.

Yesterday was a rough day for so many people after hearing the horrible details about the boy in Neenah who allegedly died at the hands of his mother. It was on my mind all day and night.

I found myself kissing my kids as much as I could yesterday, watching them sleep and listening to their conversations with even more interest. Just days before Mother's Day, it's made me appreciate my children and being a mom that much more.

After being surrounded by information at work on Wednesday, I left to pick up Grace and Lucas from day care. Instead of staying focused on the toy he was playing with like he usually does, Lucas came running up to me, hugging me, kissing me and rubbing my face. "I love you, Momma."

That's all I needed to hear.

Last night we were at Benjamin's soccer game when Lucas spotted a jet in the sky, making a white line behind it.

He was talking all about the jet to me and Gary and anyone else who would listen. He must have forgotten the word an hour later because as I was tucking him in to bed he said, "We saw a gut in the sky today."