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I was always skillful at multi-tasking, but since having twins I’ve become the queen of juggling several tasks at once. Sometimes it’s been tandem nursing the twins while calling out potty instructions to my toddler. Maybe it’s calling a customer service line while making breakfast. It can be changing a diaper while mentally balancing my checkbook. Often times, it’s caring for three kids at once.

I almost never get a chance to do one thing at a time, which is usually perfectly fine with me. I get antsy and distracted if I don’t have a few balls in the air. Focusing on a single task is not my thing.

It’s funny how multi-tasking elevates to an art with twins, though. My to-do list is a mile long, as most moms’ lists are, and that’s even outside of caring for children. Sometimes it feels like a bottomless pit, and I’ll never claw free. Every time I whittle it down, more gets piled on the top. I don’t even bother making a list anymore.

My brain is just constantly abuzz with activity, and I’ve honed an automated system of prioritizing tasks in a reflexive manner. If I get a minute here or a few seconds there, I tackle the next must-do activity.

It’s funny to think of the old days of simply being a semi-responsible adult. Just imagine. I once was challenged by such silliness as paying bills, returning rented videos and getting to work on time. What innocence.

There was a day soon after I returned to work after maternity leave with the twins. I was at work doing about five things at once. A few years ago, I might have become stressed about this. All I could think was, “Hey, at least I’m not feeding the twins now, too.”

The downside is this leaves so little time to savor the really important things. It isn’t often that I can focus on one child at a time. I cherish moments of calm in the storm: the few minutes before bedtime when my daughter sits in my lap and we cuddle, or the times when one of the twins cries, and I pick him or her up to discover he or she just wants to play, smile and stick out a tongue.

No matter how busy things get, no matter how crazy life is, it’s important to steal brief moments to focus on one thing—or one child—at a time.

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There should just be a universal rule that moms never have to do the daycare drop-off. The picking up is just fine. The kids grin from ear to ear when they see Mommy. They sometimes even yell out, "Mommy!" with glee. That's a good time.

The drop-off is a whole different story, and I honestly think it's harder on everyone when mom does it. Maybe it's just me. The kids cry, they get that agonizing sad face, they cling to you.

For a mom, it's a painful experience. So we should just boycott it altogether.

In our household, the general rule is that dad is the go-to drop-off guy, and I do the pick-ups. That works. But a day last week, circumstances caused me to be the drop-off gal. Three kids dropped off in two daycare center rooms, each one a drama.

There's no good solution, either. I mean, what if there is a day when the kids are cool with the drop-off? They just leave mom, and run off to play. I think that's even worse. I shudder to think...

So working moms, let's stick do our guns. We gave birth, and we should get to pick our daycare drop off shift. Who's with me?

Photo copyright Tim & Annette at stck.xchng.

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It's been a year and two months since I returned to work after having the twins, and I think things are just barely, kinda-sorta stabilizing. I am actually getting to work on time despite getting three on-time-sabotaging kids out the door. My bills are only getting paid a little late. On occasion, I can even choke down a bowl of cereal in the morning.

Returning to work after having kids isn't easy. In fact, I did it before with my first, but I eased back in by going back part-time at first, then working two days from home.

Since I was offered a new job in a new town while on bed rest, I didn't have that luxury this time. At seven weeks, with infant twins and a 3-year-old, I'd just moved across several states and started a demanding new job.

I quickly figured something out. The business I'd been in for 15 years, the news business, was just too family-unfriendly for my tastes now that I had three kids. So I switched careers.

Full-time work with three kids isn't too breezy anyway, but a family-friendly job makes a world of difference. And, like anyone thrown in the trenches, eventually you claw your way back to the top.

Now we have many systems in place to make life semi-sane. We go for a big family grocery shopping expedition every Saturday (I just got back, and who knew grocery shopping could be so exhausting). We have a totally anal-retentive wipe board of chores, with color-coded wipe markers to write each person's duties by each day of the week.

It does take time, but eventually the insanity and overwhelming intensity of returning to work with kids does settle. Some.

Photo copyright Piotr Bizior

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A long work day can be especially hard when you're a mom. My day started at 6 a.m. (miraculously, really, as someone is usually up by 5 a.m.). The marathon of getting kids wrangled, ready and out the door commenced. Drop off at daycare, head to work. Then I had an after work event.

Now it's 10 p.m. It's the first time I've relaxed all day. My husband picked up the kids and got them to bed, so I saw them for just a brief time this morning (and that wasn't exactly what I'd call bonding time).

It can be a challenging life to be a working mom. We have to be all things to all people. We get very little sleep. There are the rewards of a stimulating career and a great home life, but they do come at a steep price.

I've done the work from home scene, too, and it isn't any easier. In fact, in certain ways it can be easier to work at an actual workplace. At least you can work with some semblance of peace and quiet, and for more than a few minutes in a row before a kid has demands. You get a chance to speak to actual adults, and you don't have the "Blues Clues" theme song playing in your head.

So what is the solution? Can moms have work or business life and family AND sleep?

These are tough times. What do you moms do to get through the day? Register or log in and add comments below! I'd love to hear some tips!

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OK, I know this is going to be hard for most of you to wrap your minds around. I actually got a decent night's sleep. Eight hours. Not without interruption, of course, but still. From 10:30 p.m. to 6:45 a.m. Bizarre.

In my house, with 1-year-old twins and a sleep-detesting 4-year-old, this is such a rarity it's almost unheard-of. By the time the 4-year-old surrenders kicking and screaming (sometimes literally) to sleep, the evening can run late. The twins love to be up before the sun (what's UP with that).

And it's pretty inevitable. At some point in the night, someone will whine or cry or need something. If I'm really, really lucky, only that child wakes. Sometimes, it's a domino effect that results in all five people in the house awake and unhappy.

I'm not even sure what I did right. It was a total fluke, and I will probably get punished by hourly wakings tonight. But that's OK. I'll take it.

When I woke up this morning, I had the oddest feeling. I was refreshed. Is that what normal people feel like in the morning? I love it!

I can't wait until it happens again... probably in about 3.5 years.

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