"Once a day don't you wanna throw the towel in... It's easier than puttin' up a fight....

.... No one cares when your dreams at night get creepy. No one cares if you grow or if you shrink...."

Annie was one of my all time favorites as a child. I could quote it, (line by line) if you'd like. No? Okay, then, take my word for it. Her Highness and The Storm are also big fans of the movie. And, having smart-alek parents, our kids are accustomed to us singing "It's a hard knock-life" when they try and file complaints against us. It wasn't until the other day, while I was scrubbing my shower with a brillo pad (yes, it was that nasty) that I realized just how true this song is. But not for my children... for ME, and the rest of us who are trying to make it through this crazy time known as Motherhood.

As I was on my hands and knees, literally, scrubbing away at several months worth of mold, which was holding on for dear life, Lightning came in and requested a snack, or something along those lines. "I'm busy, honey. Plus, you walked right by your Daddy, who is just watching football on the couch. Go bug him." Lightning didn't like my response, and did the usual foot-stomp accompanied by his typical tongue lashing that only three year olds can truly understand. Immediately, I began to sing my usual chorus, which only infuriated him more, "It's a hard-knock life for us! It's a hard-knock life for us!.... No one cares for you a smidge, when you're in the Hudson House. It's a hard-knock life!" After Lightning stormed off, I continued singing, mainly because the song was now stuck in my head, and because it seemed only fitting, since I was indeed scrubbing the way the cute little orphans do in the movie.

Her Highness stopped by the bathroom, shortly after I had finished with the shower, to check in and see what I had been doing for the last hour, since I hadn't been serving her. "Momma, what are you doing in here?" I pulled the shower curtain back slowly, with a huge grin on my face, anticipating some type of praise for the huge feat I had just accomplished. I know, I know, she's only six, but even she has made several comments lately about the over-populated mildew covering nearly every square inch of our shower stall. "What?" She asked, not knowing what I could possibly be beaming over. "Can't you tell? Look just how clean that shower is! Aren't you proud of me?" Sad, I do realize. But, I'm not joking when I say that I am undomesticated. So, deep cleaning of any type deserves some praise on my part. "Momma, being proud of you for cleaning the shower, would be like you being proud of me for putting my shoes on when it's time to go." I fully expected her to burst out with, "Santa Clause we never see... Santa Clause? What's that, who's he?..." But, since Her Sarcastic Highness never did, I went ahead for her, "No one cares for you a smidge, when you're in an orphanage! It's a hard-knock life! Don't it seem like the wind is always howling... don't it seem like there's never any light.... " before I could get much further, she skipped off, to carelessly play the day away.

Instead of a drunk Ms. Hannigan as my boss, I have four (almost five) extremely high on life red-heads to scream, "You'll stay up, till this place shines like the top of the Chrysler Building!"
Dear, me. It's what being a Momma is all about, I suppose. So, for now I'll just keep on singing...
"It's a hard-knock life!"