It’s all coming back to me, this having a toddler thing. I feel like I’m on a treadmill all day long, moving, but never going anywhere.
And I’ve decided that cleaning up with a toddler in the house is like trying to vacuum in the middle of a hurricane.
I put baby b. in his high chair, and he eats breakfast while I unload the dishwasher. When he’s done, I clean up the high chair mess while he toddles off to the family room and dumps a box of tinker toys. Before I’m finished with the kitchen, he wanders back in with his broom to “help” me sweep. And on and on it goes, all day long.
Yesterday I gave up for a few hours and actually tripped on my way across the living room.
At least he has a healthy sense of curiosity.
Any illusion that I am able to keep all of these balls in the air AND keep a tidy house are officially shattered. Twin A. had a playdate a few weeks ago, and when the little boy’s Mom came to pick him up, I invited her in. I didn’t apologize for the mess; after all, four Kindergarten boys and a toddler had been happily playing for two hours.
And they were all alive.
She told me later, “I love your home. It’s lived in, like our house.” And the next week when Twin A. played at her house, she invited me in for the first time. We pushed the pile of mail on the counter to the side and had a cup of tea.
Maybe this toddler thing isn’t so bad after all.
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7 comments:
sounds like a good friend to make!
at the end of the day, just before dad came home, I would take a box and stuff all the misc stuff in it so the floor was clear and then sort it back out first thing in them morning - I never did get the jumbles that followed the kids under control!
My advice is just make sure you clear a path to the bathroom before you go to bed. You would not want to step on something in the middle of the night!
Enjoy the little ones and the mess , it doesn't last long!
This is a bit lengthy for a comment, but I think you'll like it:
People are always on the lookout for a new diet. The trouble with most diets is that you don't get enough to eat (the starvation diet), you don't get enough variation ( the liquid diet) or you go broke (the all-meat diet). Consequently, people tend to cheat on their diets, or quit after 3 days. Well, now there's the new Toddler Miracle Diet! Over the years you may have noticed that most two years olds are trim. Now the formula to their success is available to all in this new diet. You may want to consult you doctor before embarking on this diet, otherwise, you may be seeing him afterwards. Good luck!!!
DAY ONE----
Breakfast: One scrambled egg, one piece of toast with grape jelly. Eat 2 bites of egg, using your fingers; dump the rest on the floor. Take 1 bite of toast, then smear the jelly over your face and clothes.
Lunch: Four crayons (any color), a handfull of potato chips, and a glass of milk ( 3 sips only, then spill the rest)
Dinner: A dry stick, two pennies and a nickel, 4 sips of flat Pepsi.
Bedtime snack: Throw a piece of toast on the kitchen floor...........
DAY TWO-----
Breakfast: Pick up stale toast from kitchen floor and eat it. Drink half bottle of vanilla extract or one vial of vegetable dye.
Lunch: Half a tube of "Pulsating Pink" lipstick and a handfull of Purina Dog Chow (any flavor). One ice cube, if desired.
Afternoon Snack: Lick an all-day sucker until sticky, take outside, drop in dirt. Retrieve and continue slurping until it is clean again. Then bring inside and drop on the rug.
Dinner: A rock or an uncooked bean, which should be thrust up your left nostril. Pour grape Kool-Aid over mashed potatoes; eat with a spoon.
DAY THREE-----
Breakfast: Two pancakes with plenty of syrup, eat one with fingers, rub in hair. Glass of milk; drink half, stuff other pancake in glass. After breakfast, pick up yesterdays sucker from rug, lick off fuzz, put it on the cushion of your best chair.
Lunch: Three matches, peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Spit several bites onto the floor. Pour glass of milk on table and slurp up.
Dinner: Dish of ice cream, handfull of potato chips, some red punch. Try to laugh some punch through nose, if possible.
FINAL DAY----
Breakfast: A quarter tube of toothpaste (any flavor), bit of soap, an olive. Pour a glass of milk over bowl of cornflakes, add half a cup of sugar.. Once cereal is soggy, drink milk and feed cereal to dog.
Lunch: Eat bread crumbs off kitchen floor and dining room carpet. Find that sucker and finish eating it.
Dinner: A glass of spaghetti and chocolate milk. Leave meatball on plate. Stick of mascara for dessert.
(from ArcaMax Jokes)
Craver -- thank you for the laugh. Yes, so true!!
Craver is so funny! Maybe it's all the crayons he ate growing up!
Thanks for the comment over yonder - you're the best - I do want more people to read him and him to interact with more of "us" for sure - and I think what he writes is worth reading too so we'll see if he bites
"We pushed the pile of mail on the counter to the side and had a cup of tea."
... and true, authentic friendship is born from moments like this!
Savor it. Sooner than you could ever imagine, they'll be gone and your house will be clean. But, today -- enjoy them and listen to them, and take the time to teach them little things. Then, God willing, in your clean house in the future, you will observe the results of the moments you spent with them. And a messy house will be forgotten.
Sandra
addhumorandfaith.wordpress.com
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