PROMPT: write a story narrated by a mother of six children

Having six children wasn't unusual for where Erin came from; everyone in Ireland had as many kids as they could. The survival rate was much better these days, but that was only part of it – having multiple children meant growing your family – something which any Irish woman would be proud of.

Erin and her husband, Sean, had landed lucky; they had three girls and three boys, a perfect split. None of them were twins, and all were born around a year to a year-and-a-half apart. They were thick as thieves, all six of them, best friends and rivals all at once.

As much as she tried, Erin could never pinpoint when was easiest with them. As babies, there had been mess everywhere all the time; as they grew, the mess became a little more controlled but the noise increased. She could only be grateful that her deceased father's house had been given to her, as the eldest child in her own family.

The house had more than enough room to accommodate Erin, Sean, their six children, two dogs, four chickens, two horses and one extremely stubborn goat. The grounds sprawled out from the back of the house, allowing the family to have a miniature farm and a few vegetable plots (which Bert, the goat, infiltrated far more often than Erin would like.)

Since her youngest was born, Erin began dreading the teenage years. Disgruntled children would be much harder to contend with than wild ones who just wanted to play made-up games all the time.

Sean noticed the wrinkles of the strain appearing on his wife's forehead from the time Finn, the eldest, turned 13 and was technically a teenager. Yet Erin's gentle approach eased Finn's temperament – a practice which she kept up while the rest of her children became teenagers.

It was only when Caitlin, the youngest, started acting out that Erin's energies slacked. Sean struggled to help – it wasn't like he could drag a girl out to work the fields at the neighbour's farm, was it now?

You have to remember, these events take place at a time when women and men were stuck in prescribed job roles, with the women at home and the men working. See? Even placing women before men in a sentence is somewhat bizarre.

And yet Caitlin was not satisfied by life at home – she dreamed of joining her brothers at the farms all over the county. The chickens, goat and horses weren't enough for her. No, Caitlin wanted to spend all her time outdoors.

"Caitlin, dear, please will you mend Annie's coat? She mended your tights last week, and 'tis only fair," Erin's lilting tone travelled out to the garden where Caitlin was sat sullenly petting Bert while he chewed the top of a carrot.

At Caitlin's non-response of a shrug, Erin sighed heavily. How was it that the rest of her children had turned out near perfect, and then there was just sulky Caitlin?

Erin's grey eyes glanced heavenwards, muttering a prayer to God that the years would get easier.

(509 words)