They are keeping me on my toes
Trust me, you don’t want to see the rest. While trying to clean that up, kids ran wild and Alex, looking to get a giggle, threw the hamster cage in the floor. The hamster survived, all of the bits inside the cage went flying like someone busting open a shaken up soda can. All evening I’d start something and they’d hit somewhere else. I never could get a darned thing done.
So yesterday morning after my husband left for work and there was suddenly this stillness in the house, this quiet contentment amongst the kids to sit around doing nothing but watch TV quietly… I was in heaven. I felt bad that I’ve been neglecting my page, either I’m too busy to tell you what the hellions are up to or it’s so still that there’s nothing to report but man, that stillness was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life!!!! I grabbed my coffee and sat in my chair with a smile to tell you about it.
…and jinxed myself.
Do you know how they talk about the calm before the storm? How they describe the eerie quiet, the spooky, unnatural stillness seconds before the tornado comes ripping and roaring through? They tell it true, man.
As soon as I hit “publish”, I mean the split second I took my finger off of the button, the Goofy one comes in crying. His brother won’t play with him. fine. Play with Alex. “But Alex won’t talk. and he just walks away. I don’t want to play with someone who just walks away.” just then, Alex walked away. Right straight over to a twisty tied 5 lb bag of dry beans. He shook it good, busted it open and threw it down the stairs. followed quickly by the rest of the box of things waiting to be put away.
I’m trying to get Alex calmed down, I walk him to his room so he can be alone with his things, I can find the vacuum cleaner and get it cleaned up without him taking off on me and on the way…
find out someone had a little trouble with the toilet.
Can’t find the carpet cleaner anywhere, only to remember that my husband mentioned Thing1 wanting to borrow it. I text Thing1…nothing. Crap. I text my husband, cussing all the way just to be clear on exactly how happy I am about having to clean this freezing cold mess up with a mop and my socks because my shoes have holes all in them when I really don’t even want to consider exactly what stopped the toilet up. and the fact that as long as it’s taking me to throw my fit and clean this (probably literal) crap up with a mop, all of that water is leaking into the basement all over clothes because we need to caulk where the floor meets the wall. I get done cleaning it up and I am texting my siblings and my friends that in moments like these I really want to go hug my parents and tell them how freakin’ sorry I am for all of my previous years when my husband calls me. The carpet cleaner is in the basement. He just forgot to put it back where it belonged.
The Goofy one is having trouble with the computer. Since I changed all of the settings, I have to be there to help him get where he needs to go and to redo add ons and such. It’s a pain in the you-know-what. He’s being a pain in the you-know-what. and I’m still not pleased that he threw every single one of my micro SD card adapters and my flash drive in my coffee. Granted, he didn’t know it was the wrong cup, it looked like the right cup and it was sitting in the right place but I don’t know that I want this child anywhere near my table but he won’t stop begging!
Then Thing2 comes home…
She’s loving the “mouse” and wants to hold it the whole time she’s here. When it’s time to go, she doesn’t want to leave. I promise her a trip to the library Wednesday- story time or no storytime- and she’s happy. She knows she’ll be back. She knows she will see the “mouse” again. …and I think maybe we just found a name for the hamster. While they were here, Mommy started talking birthday parties (plural). but that’s a conversation for another day.
Whether it’s the kids or family members, neighbors, or other parents… they keep me guessing, keep me on my toes, surprising me with new challenges and new ways of working together. Pushing me to be more than I was yesterday. the good and the bad all tangled together until you can’t tell one from the other, making me into a new, stronger, more resilient, more capable person than the one I started out being. Every day, growing and evolving into a new person.
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