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Keeping your sanity while raising children, what a novel idea! I always considered having insanity with children a lot like having sugar in my coffee, it's not necessary but it does make the whole experience sweeter. When you think about it, no sane person would want to be a parent, to be trapped in a relationship with someone who is completely dependent on you for a minimum of 18 years; they have classes and books on how to get out of relationships like that.

And yet, day after day babies are born to adoring parents who will dote on them and supply every whim required by these small but effective dictators of your time and energy; eventually your sanity will be asked for and freely given without a moments thought. I waved a final bye-bye to my sanity as it sail away one day as I fingerprinted with my children while listening to the same song for the 18th time in a row because they liked it so much.

Sane people do not read the same story over and over again, sometimes as many as 20 times a day, because someone asked them to. Nor do they talk gibberish and discuss the relative merits of Big Bird vs. Cookie Monster as role models, with someone who drools and can't even focus their eyes yet. No, these are not the actions of a sane person.

Once I was unencumbered by that pesky troublemaker sanity, I found my children much more entertaining. I was able to roll around on the floor playing with my children or change a diaper with the same unshakable aplomb. Small things like dusting and dirty fingernails ceased to have relevance to the happiness in my life, I had more important things to do like build a fort out of blankets in the living room or watch my children roll in the dirt in the backyard.

I could now relax and enjoy my built-in time saving device, called the dog, licking my children clean after snack time, and realized about the same time that they were also remarkably efficient vacuum cleaners as well. In my insanity, I realized I could also use them as pre-washers for our dishes before I popped them into the dishwasher, I couldn't tell you how much water and electricity I have saved over the years by relaxing to the fact that dogs like to lick almost anything that smells good.

I could begin to see the deeper meaning of Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs and Ham" and how it related to raising children. It only took about a 100 readings over the course of a few days to find this meaning, but if I had kept my sanity could I have shared this sudden insight with those small

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