Appreciating Your Parents Now That You Are One?

I have two children.  Wyatt is 2 1/2 and Halle is about 14 months now.

I am starting to wonder more and more each day how my parents raised six children...and especially how all of us are still alive!  Was it the fact that my mom stayed at home to be with all of us until we went to school? Was she just raised differently than I was in some way that made her have a higher tolerance for misbehavior? Or were we just such great kids she wanted to spend every second with us? (doubt it!) Could it be that she was a middle child and I am the baby? I am not sure if it is society that has changed or if our mothers are just that much tougher...or crazier than us.

All in all over the last...almost three years I have learned that in my eyes my parents are saints! I don't even want to drive in a car for more than a few hours with my kids before they drive me nuts with screaming....let alone take family vacations to Minnesota or Eastern Montana to visit Grandma and Grandpa like we use to with all SIX kids. (I think this statement would make more sense if all of you knew my brother...and if you ask my Dad...me too)  If I could have one question answered...and answered honestly I think it would be ...."how did you do it"?

Every time I ask my mother the question she tells me...."Holly, it is a very short amount of time in your entire life"....well mom...."it feels not so short to me"!