I know I’m a mom when…

I find stones (and feathers and seed puffs) in my pockets

I stop in the middle of the sidewalk to watch a construction site

I find toys hidden in my shoes

I take super-quick showers

I put all scissors and permanent markers up as high as I can reach

I have “Wheels on the Bus” running through my head

I have a picture book (currently Hairy Maclary) memorized

I’m nonplussed by wiping snotty noses

I notice various animals and vehicles even when not with my children and feel like shouting out, “Hey, there’s a …..!”

I can serve myself and three kids at a potluck, carrying 3 plates on one arm

I don’t go anywhere without a spare diaper and wipes

I wake up at a moment’s notice, any time of the night

I can tell something’s up just by the silence

I’ve breast-fed and changed nappies for what seems like 6 ½ years straight!!

I'm drawn as a stick figure with curly hair and labeled "MOMO" (based on the rule that "o" says "ah" in beginning phonetics)

I somehow explain intercourse, racism, mastectomies, and countless other topics on a regular basis in language that my kids mostly understand!

I comfort my sobbing daughter who’s traumatized by seeing a whale calf separated from its mother, attacked and killed by orcas in a nature video

My kids cuddle against me as I read book after book to them

My art ideas are copied by the cutest little amateur artists

I’m forgiven and loved even after messing up so much