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I had just gotten home from my job as an elementary school teacher and had less than 30 minutes to feed the kids and shuttle them to their after-school activities. Time was tight, but I was used to it.

Both my children were sitting at the table, not-so-patiently waiting for dinner to be served. The kids had been bickering since I picked them up from daycare, and I was feeling a bit irritable from refereeing their disagreements.

I was dashing back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room, trying to get dinner on the table. I leaned over my 3-year-old daughter, Julia, and placed a bowl of green beans on the table.

"What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly realizing she was staring at me. "Are you all right, Julia?"

She shook her head slightly, continuing to stare at my face.

I reached for a paper napkin, assuming the spaghetti sauce had splattered on me. But before I could wipe my face, Julia grabbed my arm. "Don't, Mommy. Don't touch it," she said urgently.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because your head is wrong," she said.

"My head is wrong?" I asked. "How could my head be wrong?"

She nodded vigorously. "It's wrong, Mommy. Up here, it's wrong."

She touched my forehead gently with her chubby fingers. My hand followed hers. I felt my forehead, which at that moment was a mass of stress-induced wrinkles.

Julia nodded again. "See, I told you. Your head's wrong."

I chuckled and tried to ignore the less-than-subtle reminder that I was indeed getting older. "It's not wrong, Sweetheart. Mommy's head just gets like that when I'm really busy."

"Well, when you're busy, your head looks mad," she insisted.

"But Mom is always busy," piped up my 6-year-old son, Jordan.

I began to explain that I just always have so much to do, but then I stopped short. In my children's logic, if busy equals mad, did that mean that I always looked angry to them? What a scary thought.

I sat down at the table, dinner quickly forgotten. I rubbed the deep grooves on my forehead and looked at my children.

"What are you doing, Mom?" asked Jordan.

"Taking a break," I answered softly, knowing that the three of us clearly needed one. After thinking for a moment, I asked them if they would be all right if we skipped their activities that evening. "Let's stay here tonight and be together," I suggested.

"Can we play Go Fish?" Julia asked.

"Of course," I said, giving her a hug.

"Can we watch a movie and eat popcorn?" asked Jordan.

"Absolutely," I answered with a grin.

And so the three of us relaxed and spent time together. We played games and just hung out, something we rarely did during our hustle and bustle weeks. While I was reading a story at bedtime, I caught Julia studying my face once again.

"What now, Honey?" I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

She smiled and touched my forehead. "Mommy, you fixed it," she said. "Now your head is right."

I smiled back, realizing that my priorities were finally right as well.

Diane Sonntag is an elementary school teacher, a mother of two and a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in Woman's World, Chicken Soup for the Girl's Soul and Celebrate Life.

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