Serenity Now!

Alana: Controlling my temper.
Anne: Keeping your temper when you are at the end of your tether. Let me give you an example: when you have been up 10 times during the night and you are bone tired and you have just strapped your twin babies into their car seats (they are bone tired too, dammit woman, we've been up all night and we are just about to start screaming here) and you have put on your 3 year old daughter's coat and your own and hoisted the nappy bag over your shoulder and grabbed the spare rug between your teeth and are finally ready to go after only one false start and the three year old says "Mummy, I need to do a poo". And then she fails to produce that poo ["Mr. Poo was lost in the forest, Mummy"] despite much patient waiting on your part and some less patient waiting on the part of her brothers who are sweating in their coats in the car seats in the hall and, you don't SCREAM much.
Buffi: Not throwing a tantrum when you really, really feel like throwing a big, old hissy fit. Not screaming "Just clean up your toys already!!!!!" when that is all that is going through your mind. (but maybe that's just me)
Mamaloo: The hardest thing I have to do as a mother is be patient. Sometimes it's hard to realise that no matter how attractive I make a task or how hardline I am about getting the task done, sometimes my child is just not going to do what I want him to do, and he isn't going to do it in my ideal timeline. If I could be more patient, I would be an infinitely better mother.
Anne: Keeping your temper when you are at the end of your tether. Let me give you an example: when you have been up 10 times during the night and you are bone tired and you have just strapped your twin babies into their car seats (they are bone tired too, dammit woman, we've been up all night and we are just about to start screaming here) and you have put on your 3 year old daughter's coat and your own and hoisted the nappy bag over your shoulder and grabbed the spare rug between your teeth and are finally ready to go after only one false start and the three year old says "Mummy, I need to do a poo". And then she fails to produce that poo ["Mr. Poo was lost in the forest, Mummy"] despite much patient waiting on your part and some less patient waiting on the part of her brothers who are sweating in their coats in the car seats in the hall and, you don't SCREAM much.
Chris: Remaining patient. Also, listening to the same jokes and stories about Bionicles over and over and over again without having my head explode. It is so hard to scoop my brain matter back into my skull.
Jen3: Patience, every day, every step of the way. Is that a task?
Mega Mom: For me it is keeping things in perspective and not being too hard on my kids. I have some anger and control issues that I work hard to keep in check daily.
Erin-erin-bo-berin: For me it is remaining calm when all three of my children are demanding things at the same time. It's always an emergency! They all want the same thing, but in varying increments of time: One wants it now, another wants it yesterday, and another one wants it last week.

Almost too tired to answer this one!

Jen at MUBAR: Being patient. And doing things while sleep-deprived.

Remembering what they are capable of.

Amalah: Remembering that my baby knows how to crawl now.
Dawn: Remembering that she is young. She is a child. It is her job to try to get away with things. It is my job not to walk into the intricate plans she has laid - and retain a sense of humor. Remembering that she knows all my buttons - from the inside out, and will press them. Repeatedly. Remembering that she is not me.
Heather Brewer: Letting them make mistakes. It's so difficult to watch our children struggle, but sometimes it's necessary, so they can figure things out for themselves. It's an automatic Mom response to jump in and make it better...but sometimes we can't.
MrsDoF: Teaching children to be socially responsible without compromising their own inner instincts and intelligence.
Dawn: Loving them is easy. Liking them can be hard. Letting them go is the most difficult.
kalisah: Letting go.
Jaime: Just when you have your child "figured out," they are on to the next thing. Learning to trust your instincts and find a balance between love, discipline, and nurturing is a constant learning process and I'm always wondering if I'm doing it "right."
Donna Schwartz Mills: Right now, with my only child of 10, it's learning to drop back and give her a little space -- to stop hovering so much... but to still make sure she is safe. It's a scary world out there!
Liz: Realizing that my children will make mistakes and...not...saying...a...word!
DrumsNWhistles: Letting go and watching them become independent.
Jane (Mamacita): The hardest mothering task? Knowing when to back off. My kids are grown up; they are raised. Once the kids are raised, stop raising them. After they are grown up, 'raising' them is called 'meddling.' But friends, it is really hard to stop. Really, really hard. And if we don't, we won't be good parents; we'll be those horrors we read about in Dear Abby. And when the kids are still living with you and needing to be mothered? It's hard to let the natural consequences of their actions fall on their heads. But if we run interference, we are cheating them out of growing up. Let your child reap the consequences of his/her actions, at home and at school.. Some of them are good, you know. I think that is part of backing off, too. Know when to back off, and know when to move in with the hugs. It's also hard for a mother to apologize to her child when the mom makes mistakes, but it's absolutely essential. I've done my share, that's for sure.
Shelley: The hardest mothering task is figuring out how to help my kids through situations that I never handled very well myself - making and keeping friends, building self-confidence, dealing with disappointment. Finding the balance between wanting to protect them from hurt and wanting them to experience things that will help them grow as individuals.

Live in the now!

Mary Beth: To me, the hardest mothering task is always being on call, on reserve, on deck. No matter how much time you can carve for yourself, a piece of you is always listening for your kid.
Amanda: Staying in the moment. I’m not nearly as zen as I want to be.
andrea from the fishbowl: Finding time and mustering patience. Giving my children my full attention when I had to be somewhere five minutes ago.
Kris: For me, it's having patience. I may need surgery to make yelling impossible. Of course, I know me. I'd just go get a police whistle.
Kristen Chase: Anything and everything that involves patience - which, is pretty much everything, isn't it?
MorahMommy: I think the hardest mothering task is being able to split myself so that all the kids have their needs met at the same time. I also think that it's hard to work full time and then be a full time mother as well. I don't have the energy to be more patient with them.

Discipline

Lisa B: Disciplining and the endless amounts of laundry. Also? Losing the last of the pregnancy weight and KEEPING it off.
Sleeping Mommy: Discipline. The delicate balance of teaching responsibility and respect and appropriate behavior without breaking their spirit.
Goober Queen: Fitting everything in a day that we need to. It used to be the guilt after discipline, but I'm over that now. ;)
Jenijen: I consistently have a hard time being consistent.
Mrs. Darling: Figuring out my childrens "currency" as DR Phil would say and then being consistent in using it for discipline.
Lisa Stone: Um, Just. Saying. No. Consistently.
Margalit: Watching your sweet, fairly compliant kids turn into raging hormonal teenagers who beg for you to protect them at the same time they're pushing you away and demanding independence. No matter what you do, it's wrong. You cannot win with teenagers, and it's so hard to keep your mouth shut while you watch them make mistake after mistake and reap the pain that comes with
such mistakes. Watching your kids grow up to become adults is hard hard work. I think that's why teens are so damn mean to their parents, so that the parents can step back and try to stay clear. This is painful for all concerned, kids and adults alike.
Jerri Ann Reason: Have I mentioned potty training? Honestly so far, the hardest thing is discipline. I can't stand to see my children cry and my 3 year old has the ol' cry and beg down pat. Of course he also has the hateful talk and smart alec talk along with the screeching and throwing of body down pat. Potty training has been frustrating, but discipline is HARD. I am a school teacher and have mutter that horrible phrase, "my kids will NOT do that" and so I'm being paid back….ten fold I fear.

Hausfrau duties

Angie: Putting away clean, folded laundry! BAH! That gets me everytime! (Of course, that is not specific to mothering, oops!)

Whining overload

Beth Kanter: Not giving in to whining.
Krisco: Hearing the whining. Good lord it makes me want to
whine.Oh, and housewifery. All of it. I don't know why "mothering" appears to be synonymous with "laundering"
and "cleanering" and "cookering" and "grocering" but it appears to the case. And now it sounds like I'm whining. Now I know where she gets it.

Taking time for myself

KCB: Maintaining one’s own identity, especially when the children are tiny and very dependent.
Brandi (ohhmama): Leaving the house with two babies, and having to be so selfless all of the time.
cmhl: I am a selfish person; I really didn't realize that before, but now I am considering having that carved on my tombstone. The hardest mothering task for me is feeling like I am constantly dividing myself up between my loved ones, and the last person in line for anything is me. I love this quote from Tenneva Jordan, "A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie."
Bella: At this point in my life, my hardest mothering task is mothering myself. My second hardest mothering task is figuring out how to get my life to a point where I can comfortably become a mother (I'm aiming for a few years).
Chris: Drawing the line between doing enough and being self-sacrificing. With all the messages about what kids need from parents, it is hard to figure out when to stop and just let them (and me) be. Oh, and the repetition (of diaper changing, of questions, of 'say please') gets to me too, but I'm trying to learn to see it as mindfulness practice.
Susan: Taking care of myself.
Marla Good: Remembering to take care of myself so I can be in top form to care for my two-year old. I mean, if you are tired, or occasionally hung-over or sick, you could tell an adult and that person might go a bit easy on you. An adult or older child would understand, and might even go beyond accommodating your temporary incapacity and do something genuinely helpful and nice. But not a toddler. No. NO. Probably because while she might be getting the hang of sympathy, she doesn’t have the first clue about empathy. And allowing Josephine any form of backsliding due to self-inflicted weakness at this point means days of work to regain the status quo ante. So inescapable debilitation is fine. Self-wrought impairment? Can’t be allowed to happen until Josephine is mature and responsible enough to bring me some pain-relievers and then buzz off to do whatever kids do these days.

Fighing through the fear

Her Bad Mother: Grappling with fear. Fear that you’ll do something wrong, that you’ll mess up, that you’ll mess your child up. Fear of your child ever feeling the briefest instant of pain, emotional, hurt, anguish, or self-doubt. Fear of the worst. Fear that is only made manageable by the extraordinary love that is both the source of that fear and the resolution of that fear.
Kira: Any of them that happen before 10 AM. No, seriously, the hardest task is facing your own shortcomings in your kids. That makes for a potent combination of guilt and fear, and the results are rarely pretty."
Danigirl: Having confidence in yourself to do the right thing when there are no clear answers. Trusting yourself and your instincts.
Margaret: Making decisions about what is "right" for teenagers.

Just for the health of it

Leah: Right now, it's dealing with the kidney stones. But I'm sure
everything will get a lot harder once the baby's here! (Though, I think fewer kidney stones is a winning situation no matter how hard a newborn can be.)
landismom: The times when my kids have been really sick--or we thought one of them was really sick--have been the hardest for me. The broken leg. The 24-hour test for diabetes. Febrile seizures. Of course, I don't have teenagers yet. I dread the teenage years, particularly with my daughter. Who learned the phrase, "talk to the hand, 'cause you ain't got no man" when she was like four (at daycare! I swear!). What on earth will she say when she's fourteen?

Socially speaking, these issues are tough!

Zoot: Counseling a child who has had their feelings hurt. Whether someone at school called them fat, or they got a bad grade on a project they worked hard on. Seeing your child with their broken heart in their hands, offering it to you to fix, is the hardest thing as a mother. We can give them hugs and put bandaids on the wounds, but we can never protect them from it happening again. Because, evidently, it's not "proper" to beat up the 5-year-olds who pick on your child. Who knew?
: Lately, my nearly 4 year old has been playing with a really snotty neighbor girl. Watching this girl be mean to my kid breaks my heart - I don't know how I'm gonna make it through the teenage years without flapping my gums too much and pissing my daughters off! Mean girls suck.
Martha: Remembering that, whether I like it or not, I'm setting an example for my kids with every step I take. Well, that and listening to Barney.
Michele Yoakum: As a once divorced single mother of then a two year old, the hardest thing was making sure that he knew that above all he was loved and it wasn't his fault. It was a task well worth it, to put my son's feelings and well being before my own resentment for his father. In the end I'm so grateful that I did. I have a wonderful, open relationship with his father (my ex), and he even approves and likes my new husband and stepfather to our son.
Krystyn: The hardest task I've encountered in ten years of parenting was last year, when I had to make difficult decisions regarding the custody and visitation agreement I have with my sons' father. It took me a couple months of bitter arguing and lawyer consultations and soul searching before I realized that what I wanted was not in their best interest. It stung. Bad.

Oh the Relentlessness of this job!

Nancy: It's probably the 24/7 aspects of the job. There are days when you just desperately want a break, when you're feeling bad and tired but the kids need to be fed and changed. Any task tinged with exhaustion, for me, is difficult."
Christina Rosalie: The hours. (24/7)
Mrs. Mogul: *Keeping alert during the day. Sleep deprivation really ruins you. The other day at the supermarket I almost put a pineapple in the Bugaboo stroller in with the baby!
Sarcastic Journalist: Dealing with my children 24/7, 365 days a year without a break. The intensity of it all, the never-ending feelings of ""how will I get through this"" every day. And then, still finding a way to love them through all of it."
Elaine: For the love of Pete, just let me sleep. I can handle anything if you JUST LET ME SLEEP.
Stacy: Dealing with the repetitive nature of
all things toddler. My daughter wants to watch the same video, read the same story, eat the same breakfast all day, every day and it can get tiresome.
Mama C-ta: Staying sane. Oh is that not a task? OK well all of them. Oh more specific? It changes daily, right now changing a diaper is a frigin' nightmare.
Carolina Fernandez: Hmmmm. For me, dealing with the mundane parts on a daily basis. It's very hard for me some days to ponder: "Is this all there is? Is this it? Is this as good as it gets?" And then there are other days when i'm perfectly fine with the mundane. Maybe one of the hardest parts of motherhood is dealing with hormones.....(my own, that is)
Marie: For me, it's not a specific task -- it's the 24/7 nature of the beast. The fact that you're always on. Always needed. It won't always be this way though, and I know I'll be sad when my son doesn't need me so much. But having a toddler is exhausting!
Mary Tsao: Any task qualifies, as long as it's done over and over and over again. But seriously, I think some of the hardest mothering tasks come when your kids are older. Right now I'm faced with whining, poo, and drudgery, but in the future, I'll have to deal with silence, anger, and kids who don't listen to me and may not even like me. At least right now I get tons of hugs and kisses and pure love. I like that stuff. A lot.

Keeping it even

Cissa Fireheart: Making sure both kids feel they are loved equally. If you have a special "Mommy and Me Time" one day with one child, and not the other, then at some point someone feels like they get less attention and love. It's hard because I like to do different things with each girl. Sometimes I feel like the rope in a tug of war.
EmmaSometimes: Having quality time with each child (I have ages 9, 7, 5 and 3)
Mary of Owlhaven: It's toughest to help everyone be even-keeled emotionally-- to shore up the discouraged, to model good humor, and to teach patience and forgiveness.
Baseballmom: My hardest mothering task is trying to fit all of my kids' activities into the day, and leave time to just be quiet with them and spend some down time, or quality time. That and trying to make sure that the boys don't kill each other while expressing all of the brotherly love they have for one another!

Getting it all done!

Hula Doula: Juggling the house, work, everyone's schedule, school, husband, one on one time, and not feeling guilty. I think sometimes just having the time in this busy world to give every single important aspect of your child's development the time and energy they need.
Jazzy: So far the hardest mothering task is being a mother and still being a wife and a cook and a maid and a career person and a…
Tuesday Girl: I think everything about being a Mother is hard. From mult-itasking to being a wife to your husband. I think that with all the things Moms need to do in a day, it is amazing anything gets done. What is amazing though is that we do get it done on less sleep then we could ever imagine getting.
Captain Mom: All of it. It is simply the most difficult, but most incredible thing, I have ever done. Being a Mother means constant giving of myself. But somehow, the love involved allows for constant replenishment. Most of the time.
Holli: Being both parents at the same time. Doing it all by myself. (I am Faith's only parent - period). It's scary - but by the same token, it's twice as rewarding. I know I can do just about anything if I put my mind to it.. and that's a pretty good feeling. Not every woman gets to experience that. I don't know that they would want to. Hell - I don't know that I would want to do it again if I had choices!! (But I would never decide to take a path that led me to anything other than Faith). As difficult as it has been from time to time, it has given me an inner strength that makes me really proud. When they say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" - they aren't lying! But every once in awhile I would love to have someone else to fall back on. I'm exhausted.
Steph: Keeping it all together....the house, the kids, the dogs, the cats, food in the fridge, laundry clean and put away....all the typical stuff...."
Laura: Juggling motherhood with the rest of life - husband, friends, part-time work, household maintenance, ambitions. The kidlet comes first and it's a struggle trying to fit everything else. I'm finally learning that some things will have to be temporarily suspended until the kidlet is a little older, and as for the others, time management (instead of my usual chaos) has become my friend. I've been taking baby steps every day and I'm finally (after two years) feeling like I have some semblance of peace over things.
Kenya: For me, it is going to school and working while breastfeeding and being a full time mom. Ahhh!.., finding enough hours in the day without feeling like I am neglecting my baby... it is tough!

Playing the bad cop

Stacy Quarty: Always being the one to hold them when they get their vaccinations, make them eat their green beans, saying no to that tenth lolli-pop, and put them into time out for bad behavior. In short, being the bad guy. Why does the mom always have to be the bad guy?
Shawn Lea: Saying no. All the time. I'm even sick of hearing myself say no. I think I'll switch to maybe first and then follow up with a no. ;)
Danelle O'Shea: Being tough when you need to be, and standing your ground. Both of my kids still at home (20 and 18) are in serious need of some "tough love" but I am so weak!
Sheryl: Saying "no" so much of the time.

Playing the role of the social director

Surcie: My son is almost 3 and I'm home with him most of the
time. So, the most difficult "task" right now is just keeping him entertained and stimulated on a daily basis. I always wonder whether I should be doing something more or different. Sometimes being "Julie The Cruise Director" is exhausting.
Deborah Klosky: Getting out of the house. One day I'd like to know how two children, two sets of children's clothes (meant to be on the children's bodies), four children's shoes and socks (ditto), two sippie cups, a snackie, a backpack or two and my purse can all exert this weird repellant force on each other, making it impossible for them to all gather in one spot near the door at the same time.

Just because I'm laughing doesn't mean it is okay!

Ms. Mamita Mala: Trying not to laugh when your kid does something wrong (but really really funny)

Oh the guilt!

Debutaunt: When my child is sick and I still have to go to work. Giving your child tylenol and then sending them to school sucks.
Melissa: I think the hardest mothering task for me is knowing when it's too much or too little. My baby is only 10 months old, but it's scary for me to think if I'm teaching him too much or not enough. I don't do sign language or Baby Einstein. Then at 3 am, I wake up in a sweat thinking maybe I've scared him for life. On the other hand, I don't want to teach and teach and teach till no one's having fun either. Balance is such a cliche, but it rings true for me because I have to balance being fun mom and structured mom.

All this and I have to feed them too?

Kelsey: For me it's difficult to coordinate the feeding of four children who don't like any of the same things, and yet need to intake food in order to sustain life. It doesn't help that I'm an awful cook, their tastes are so diverse, and their little tummy schedules are never even close to being synchronized. The baby is just starting solids, one kid doesn't eat meat, one kid only eats meat, and one kid will eat meat but only if I call it 'chicken' - even if it's a hamburger patty. Getting food into all my kids at roughly the same time each day is almost impossible.

Staying consistent

Julie (mothergoosemouse): Consistency.
Jaime: For me, it's consistent discipline and consistently preparing healthy meals. Or maybe it's just consistency ;)

What is that smell?

Karen Rani: The smells. Diapers, puke, snot (okay, snot doesn't really smell, but still).

Ask me tomorrow

Jennifer Nybo: Hmmmm.....depends on the day really.…
Sweatpantsmom: What was the question? I’m sorry – it’s hard to pay attention when I’m talking to a client as I’m cooking dinner while bandaging an elbow and then my toilet backs up into the hallway, narrowly missing my daughter’s school project that is due tomorrow that she just told me about. Oh, and look – one of the neighbors just stopped by to ask me why my kids don’t play soccer.
Mir: That totally depends on the situation. Puke wins, hands down. But barring puke, maybe you have two kids and only one pop-tart. It's a jungle out there.

Letting go when it is time to let go

Susie Sunshine: Stopping. You do everything for years and years and then have stop just when you've gotten good at it.