At a family dinner last night there were fourteen children 8 and younger.

Twelve of them are 4 or younger, and six of those are under 19-months.

One of the dads works construction in the summer, which (if you don’t know) generally involves early mornings and long, physically-demanding hours.

He joined in a conversation his wife and three other moms were having about sleep-deprivation, chiming in with how tired he was with work and sometimes getting up with the kids, and how his wife got even less sleep than he.

“I don’t know how she does it,” he said, with the proper admiration in his voice. Nobody said anything. “I’m just exhausted,” he repeated.

Somehow we ladies all seemed to be waiting for his point. He looked around at us all and cringed theatrically.

“Tough crowd!”