Tag Archives: kids

Reason #49 We Do A Lot Of Laundry…

What do you get when an unattended two year old wanders into a bathroom and finds a large bottle of conditioner with a pump top and a cat litter box?

Nothing that looks like this. Well, the two year old was the same but other than that it was a much less angelic scene.

Nothing that looks like this. Well, the two year old was the same but other than that it was a much less angelic scene.

A mess.

One that is too disgusting to describe but gets the two year old the extra shower she had been begging for all night.

You also get…

Reason #65 the girl takes more showers than I do.

Reason #42 that once again our new bar of soap is down to a sliver.

Reason #12 I’m very glad I clean the cat litter box every day.

Reason #22 Jane has silky smooth hair.

Reason #1 that I mopped my bathroom floor today!

And, of course –

Reason #49 we do a lot of laundry.

Phew

Last week when talking about seat belt safety Clara interrupted, “Yes, but Mom I already know that you should never jump in a sharks mouth or put your finger in a tigers mouth or…”

This week Ivy told her friend and I that the only things that makes her nervous are, “…large predators that could kill me…” When her friend asked what a predator was she happily informed her “You know, stuff like bears and wolves and…”Ivy and bear

I’m not sure where this is all coming from, (because to answer my cousin, no, I have not been reading them Peter Capstick stories) but it seems I have accidentally imparted upon my girls a considerable respect for large toothy creatures.

Which is good.

I’ll never have to worry about Clara jumping into a sharks mouth (at least on purpose) and Ivy will not be the kid who tries to cuddle with a bear.

I can just cross those items right off my list of motherly worries.

Phew.

The Future

When your job is a stay at home mom it’s a bit of a conversation stopper. Too many bodily fluids to be glamorous. Too many people do it to be unique. Too many interruptions from the kids to have a conversation about anything anyway.  No matter how important I feel my job is, there are certainly many who don’t actually see it as a “job” at all. And there is no denying that the longer I’m out of the “real” workforce, the more difficult it will become to ever get a “real” job that relates at all to what I once went to school for.

And I’m ok with that.

When I imagine my future, I see visions goats and orchards (and yes I know those are totally incompatible) rather than a 8 -5 work week. But, honestly, I don’t spend much time thinking about it. All my brain power is currently allocated to figuring out what to eat for dinner, how to keep the kids from strangling each other and desperately searching out small chunks of time to nap in.

Little did I know that my eldest does not share my laissez-faire attitude toward my future career. While enjoying a rare evening alone with Ivy, she brought the subject up.

Ivy: “So, what kind of job do you think you are going to do when we all get older and build our own houses.”

Me:” I’m not sure, I might have to wait and see. What do you think?”

Ivy: “Well… you wouldn’t have to get a job. You could just stay home and look at magazines and find things for us to buy in them.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of this. Does she think I need a job? Has Ivy joined the ranks of people who think I’ll be unqualified for anything once the kids were gone and so will be stuck looking at magazines? Does she think I would like to look at magazines all day? Has my child ever met me? And seriously, if I was looking at magazines all day, wouldn’t I be finding things for myself to buy? Unthrilled about this magazine suggestion of hers, I mentioned the possible acquisition of goats. Ivy met my life long wish for goats with her very best six year old version of well-if-you-think-so-but-that’s-actually-a-ridiculous-idea “Okaay…”

Card game over we headed out to get ourselves an ice cream treat. As I pulled out of the driveway, mind still half on my future life, Ivy, still ecstatic to be the only child for the evening, had a new game for us to play.

Ivy: “I know let’s be rock stars!”

Me: “Ok, how do we do that.”

Ivy: “Well, you just have to be really cool.”

Me: “Aren’t we already cool?”

Ivy: “Well… yeah!”

It’s true, I’ve got no blossoming career to look forward to, no dream job that was put on hold while the kids grew up. But at a moment in time where my little girl thinks I’m “really cool” the goats and magazines will have to wait.Ivy

And I’m ok with that.

One More Thing

At bed time there is always one more thing.

Clara: “Mom I have one more really good thing to tell you. … You know what shouldn’t be in here? Saws.”

Me: “Saws? Do you have a saw in here?!”

Clara: “No.”

Me: “Well, that’s good, we don’t need to worry about it tonight then – goodnight!”

Clara: “But, if there was a saw and it was under the bed…”

Me: “Goodnight!”Clara and Cassey

There is always one more thing at bed time.

Stone Soup

We’ve always involved the kids in the kitchen and while it is true that the new stirrers make giant messes, and the new choppers need extra knife supervision and they all make the kitchen 12 times more messy that it would be otherwise, it’s been mostly worth it.

Because, despite the frustratingly slow rate at which the giant mess and the meal gets made, cooking with the kids is usually an enjoyable experience. And now, all that mess and extra time is starting to pay off. I have girls that can grate cheese and stir without spilling. Kids that peel garlic and chop onions and one girl who is really good at making piles of flour and then slowly transferring the entire pile to her shirt and the floor.

But the best part is that they are now starting to take initiative in the kitchen. Ivy has (with help on the heavy pots) cooked dinner for us, Clara can be found making her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Jane can turn a giant pot of perfectly good turkey stock into stone soup.Stone Soup

Mostly worth it.

Happy New Year!

I lay in the bed, covers chilled from John’s hasty exit, gathering my courage to face the first morning of the new year, thinking it was a good thing I’m not one of those that sees signs in everything.

Ivy had rushed into our room waking us up with a full volume news bulletin on the state of the carpet upstairs. I will spare you the details of the mess in the girls room. Just let me say that it required two adults using a roll of paper towels, a scoop shovel, rubber boots, three plastic grocery bags, a trip to the store for supplies and a steam cleaner to get rid of it.

The dogs must have been having a New Year’s Eve bash of their own last night because clearly one of them is not feeling well.

This morning was not what one would call an auspicious start to the new year, but as I said, I refuse to prescribe to such things as signs and omens. And after all, this year has no where to go but up!

Here’s to a new year; it’s certain to be full of messes and likely to be worth it!

John, Jessie and girls

This frighteningly accurate portrayal of my family was taken by my Aunt Helen.

Happy New Year!