When I think of a typical hundred year-old painting of mother with her children, I think of idealized images where everyone has a sombre expression on their faces. Well these painters had a sense of as humour as they capture the moments when a mother is overwhelmed by her children's need to touch her, even when she tries to work. These artists must have been fathers because they are remarkably insightful into the mother/ child dynamic. .They remind me of the days when I felt like a mauled mother cat, feeling like if one more person touched me that I would scream.