For various reasons I don’t leave the house to go lift weights in a gym. The obvious excuses would include a lack of time and a lack of money, plus what would I do with all my kids while I indulged myself?

I’m slowly learning, maybe other mothers learned this faster than I, but my kids don’t like me to go anywhere without them. All adopted in sibling groups, all suffered abandonment and rejection; they prefer my constant presence in the house, a buffer against the world, another level of security for them. These children had often been left alone for days without food or supervision before they went into foster care.

Food here is still an issue, formerly hungry children always making sure the pantry and refrigerators are full, dancing around with anxiety if I let us get down to just one gallon of milk left in the house.

“We need MILK,” will be the shrill call to me, screeching throughout the house like I’d plumb forgotten that they’d want cereal in the morning. Testing me, as well, to make sure I’ll always provide for them…since so many others let them down over the years.

But when one has 39 children, one is usually in motion, eliminating the necessity for other aerobic exercise, hauling in groceries, taking out the trash, picking up laundry and wondering aloud why it’s up on the ceiling fan. Dealing with the manipulations here is yet another form of strength training, will my inner constitution stand up to the malarkey dumped on me like they think my ears are painted on my head or something. Jeepers, kids, I heard that.

Toting wet towels and plunging the toilet all too often, gathering up socks that were strewn every whichaway, and sweeping furiously just to get the big chunks off the kitchen floor before it gets further smeared.

I’m always running it seems, trying to steal an hour to work outside while the washer runs, hunting everyone’s shoes for school, sprinting down the hall to stop a fuss between two kids, running up and down the stairs like my rear end is on fire, so much in a hurry to get it all done each day, just so I can rise and shine, and do it again tomorrow.

I love a challenge.