I found my mind wandering a few minutes ago. I was thinking that I would love to avoid the tall pile of manilla folders in my bedroom that require my attention tonight. I wished I loved football and cold beer so I could escape life for a night. Just sit on the couch with a tall one, ignoring the spouse, the kids, the dog... but then I realized... that would be boring! What would I really be missing out on by sitting in front of the teletube every night, cold beer in hand? Duh, LIFE.

LIFE is the sheer determination you feel as you change your little ones poopy bottom for the 300th time, carefully avoiding a blinding kick in the eye by some wildly flinging small but dangerous feet.

LIFE is impulsively deciding to rescue a stray dog when you already have 5 hungry mouths to feed, knowing you will be relinquishing your clean carpets in exchange for a good vibe in the home only a puppy can bring.

LIFE is how accomplished you feel when your teen finally gets in the shower before bedtime on a school night, even if it is only after your intense and ridiculously repetitive prompting.

LIFE is going through a long ignored & neglected stack of papers in your closet when you are utterly exhausted, only to find the original measuring tape that was used to measure your first newborn baby within minutes of his birth.

LIFE is how inspired you are by yourself when you end up making a gourmet meal for 5 under $15 and in less than 15 minutes.

LIFE is how amazing it feels when you finally crawl in bed after being in a cold Emergency Room with your sick child for hours in the middle of the night, knowing your motherly instincts were right.

LIFE is the release of joyful endorphins you get slammed by when your tearful child starts to crack up right in the middle of a sobbing meltdown; for as they crack up, so must you (and it is so much better than a sob fest)!

LIFE is the priceless rewards you get for doing the dirty work. From wiping snotty, drippy noses 30 times in one hour to setting up an infusion set in record time for your diabetic child who is late (again) to school.

LIFE is all those things that we step up to bat for during the day. Even if we don’t always knock it out of the park, tackling any of life’s many responsibilities can give you such a sense of accomplishment when the day is done. Football & a frosty mug of beer cannot compete with that.