Metaphorically speaking, "the rain" is the dizzying array of household chores I spend entirely too much time on in order to have a "clean, organized" home for my two, toe-headed girls to live in. After the house is somewhat livable, I then spend every second trying to engage my children in "mess-free" play; an oxymoron that has yet to "play" out the way I envision it.:(
As it so happens, I have kept a bottle of Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder on hand for the occasional diaper rash. By rule of thumb, it's a good idea in my household to "hide" any products that can cause asphyxiation, or fires.
Wednesday evening, exhausted after a short, content-heavy week of work, I started to pack for our New Year's Eve trip. Granted, we were only going 90 miles and staying for two days (any overnight trip with two kids under five and no partner to "help" is like packing for a small army or preparing for a single-mom pilgramige). The checklist,the diapers/wipes, nebulizer on the off-chance an asthma attack occurs and so on and so forth - and don't forget about the sippy cups with their last names in Sharpie (at $4.99 a cup, you'd plaster your name on it too).
Leaving the girls in the living room, a mere 10 feet away, while I tried to "pack" for our small, family unit to finally venture out and have some FUN was beginning to sink in and even excite me a bit. Until I smelled something...dense...sneak in my nostrils and sit heavily in my chest. That, coupled with the girls being suspiciously quiet set off alarm bells in my Scattered-Single-Mon brain: Two factors of what I already concluded would be bad news.
Briskly walking the ten feet, I stopped short at five...intuitively knowing the scene that would befall my eyes. Sara the Terror had FOUND the damn powder and decided to make it "snow" in my living room, 30 minutes after I had it in tip-top shape, which in itself is a rare sight to behold.
Both girls would have received "callbacks" had a studio held open casting calls for "Casper." And the lamp, (all 20 pencil-thin ridges) in addition to all surrounding home decor were completely white. Albino white. Tacky after Labor Day white.
With their bedtime looming and another three hours of organizing at hand, I debating cancelling the trip. As my mom likes to say, "It's too much sugar for a dime." But looking at my daughters, whose eyes were ablaze with both excitement and while less discreet, but duly noted, a sense of one-upmanship, made it impossible to stay angry...Until Sara tried to make a "snow-bunny" lying in the powder...The fork was in for the night, and stayed submerged until we arrived at our destination 16 hours later. Nothing like New Years Eve with the kiddos.
Metaphorically speaking, "the rain" is the dizzying array of household chores I spend entirely too much time on in order to have a "clean, organized" home for my two, toe-headed girls to live in. After the house is somewhat livable, I then spend every second trying to engage my children in "mess-free" play; an oxymoron that has yet to "play" out the way I envision it.:(
As it so happens, I have kept a bottle of Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder on hand for the occasional diaper rash. By rule of thumb, it's a good idea in my household to "hide" any products that can cause asphyxiation, or fires.
Wednesday evening, exhausted after a short, content-heavy week of work, I started to pack for our New Year's Eve trip. Granted, we were only going 90 miles and staying for two days (any overnight trip with two kids under five and no partner to "help" is like packing for a small army or preparing for a single-mom pilgramige). The checklist,the diapers/wipes, nebulizer on the off-chance an asthma attack occurs and so on and so forth - and don't forget about the sippy cups with their last names in Sharpie (at $4.99 a cup, you'd plaster your name on it too).
Leaving the girls in the living room, a mere 10 feet away, while I tried to "pack" for our small, family unit to finally venture out and have some FUN was beginning to sink in and even excite me a bit. Until I smelled something...dense...sneak in my nostrils and sit heavily in my chest. That, coupled with the girls being suspiciously quiet set off alarm bells in my Scattered-Single-Mon brain: Two factors of what I already concluded would be bad news.
Briskly walking the ten feet, I stopped short at five...intuitively knowing the scene that would befall my eyes. Sara the Terror had FOUND the damn powder and decided to make it "snow" in my living room, 30 minutes after I had it in tip-top shape, which in itself is a rare sight to behold.
Both girls would have received "callbacks" had a studio held open casting calls for "Casper." And the lamp, (all 20 pencil-thin ridges) in addition to all surrounding home decor were completely white. Albino white. Tacky after Labor Day white.
With their bedtime looming and another three hours of organizing at hand, I debating cancelling the trip. As my mom likes to say, "It's too much sugar for a dime." But looking at my daughters, whose eyes were ablaze with both excitement and while less discreet, but duly noted, a sense of one-upmanship, made it impossible to stay angry...Until Sara tried to make a "snow-bunny" lying in the powder...The fork was in for the night, and stayed submerged until we arrived at our destination 16 hours later. Nothing like New Years Eve with the kiddos.
hello there! u hang in there k? i'll keep your daddy in my prayers! Happy New Year to you and your family!
ReplyDeleteMary...that's the "stuff" that makes it ALL worth it! I too have experienced that "stuff" with the G & Q. Oh my goodness...we were getting ready for church on a Sunday morning. And of course, we're running late. Heath and I were in a mad rush to get ourselves ready AND the boys ready...all at the same time. So, I set out the boys clothes, rushed back into my bathroom to put on my mascara(can't go anywhere without mascara) and instructed the boys to get dressed. At 5 and 4...it's a simple enough task. And many times before, they've proven to be quite capable. Well...let's just say that past performance does not guarantee future results. It was not 5 minutes later, that Heath and I heard a giggling heard of elephants running towards us in the bathroom. We quickly stepped aside for fear of a stampede. Needless to say, it was not a heard of elephants...it was G & Q! They were NOT dressed in the clothes that I had picked out for them, instead they had decided to paint their entire body in yellow, blue, green and orange paint. They were so pleased with themselves. Holy Smokes!! Heath and I were furious...for one second. We then quickly burst into laughter, threw them in the bath tub, washed them off and started all over again. I love those monkeys. I think that experience was God's way of encouraging me to slow down! Your girls are precious. Thanks for sharing your story! I love you!!
ReplyDelete