Lent calls us to a spirit of penance.  Have you noticed how, as a mother, you don't actually have to look to hard for penances?  Its like...oooh, there's another one...ooh, another!  Sort of like a video game, you know, Squash the Penance or some other sort of Pac Man ish sort of game.  Only with real people and real distress and real messes and real tears.

I just had a great idea.

You are the first to hear about it, its so new.  I haven't even told Sparky because he is putting the boys to bed.  Wow.  This is big.  Someone should create a real life video game of mothers dealing with their children in a regular day.  Let's think this through.  This mother gets up with her children in the morning.  As soon as she is out of bed, things start happening.
She steps on Lego.
Dog pooped on the floor in the night.  
Two year old has an ear infection.
Time to make breakfast.
Nurse baby for 45 minutes.  Children are starving.
The fridge is busted and all the food has gone bad.
Have to make toast holding sad two year old and nursing sad baby.
Five year old wants to help make toast.  Takes twice as long.
Butter everywhere.  Jam everywhere else.
Toast falls face down on the kitchen floor.
Five year old licks floor.
Dishwasher is full from last night.  Forgot to turn it on.
Takes 5 and a half hours just to get all the kids dressed
and cleaned up for the day.
Appliance Repairman comes and trips on the ride-me toy
in front of the fridge.
Threatens to sue.
Lunch time.  Everyone gets a banana and a bowl of cereal.
Seven year old complains.
Ten year old punches him.

Oooo.  I have just realized the object of the game. Protect Mother's Sanity.  Every time she meets a crisis, big or small, you have to click her to make her kneel down and pray for the grace to not yell at someone.  Or click on one of the children so that they give her a big sticky hug.  Or the phone rings and its her husband calling to tell her he loves her.  Or her mother telling her how much she respects her and thinks she is doing a great job.

Ten points for every crisis you protect her from.

This is good.