Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Great Day? You Decide.

My day didn't start out this way.  It started good.  Really good.  I enjoyed my coffee, my quiet time, and even checked email - all before Carter woke up.

Sigh.  It's going to be a great day.

{pause}

I realize now that even though my pre-Carter day was great, it has no bearing on my post-Carter day.  

{play}

It wasn't until 9:00am that I realized my 'great day' had just flown out the window.  Gone.  

While making some guacamole - I realized Carter was quiet.  That never happens.  Into his bedroom I wander - to find his room completely ripped apart.  

{pause}

This is an area I'm seriously working on.  It's okay if his room is messy.  It's okay if everything is pulled out of his closet.  Because he's a kid.  And that's what kids do.  And I'm learning to be okay with it.

{play}

I start tidying up his room - and he wanders off.  This is normal.  It's not until I pick up his bottle of lotion (this kid is a serious lotion-lover) and put it back on his changing table that I realize his diaper cream is MIA.

{pause}

This is reason for panic.  I recently found him with an entire tub of baby vicks vaporub smeared all over his entire face.

{play}

I leave his room in search of diaper cream disaster.  I found it, not at all where I expected it.  Moses had gone to town on that little tube - and had already eaten all of it, except for the cap.  No, I'm not kidding.  Begin google search on diaper cream and dog allergies.  It appears we'll be okay.

In the mean time, I hear Carter in the dining room - 'daaaa, da, giggle-giggle, dada, daaada'.  Aww, cute! Assuming he had his play phone, I casually walked over to join him.

{pause}

On a morning like this - never, ever, ever, ever, ever assume that 'everything is okay' - because at a moments notice, all heck will break loose.

{play}

All heck broke loose as I realized Carter had opened a bottle of paint, and was lotioning his face with it.  

Not fingerpaint.  Not even tempera paint.

Acrylic paint.  

There is good news here.  Here it is: he was sitting in a pile of laundry, on the rug in our dining room.  No laundry, carpet fibers, or little boy jammies were harmed in the process.  I'd call that a miracle.  

{pause}

As much as my flesh maybe-kinda-almost wanted to scream, I kept my cool.  Because, after all, who's the moron who left a bottle of acrylic paint on the table?!

{play}

The mess could have been washed up with a rag - but why not take a bath?  It's more fun that way, I think.



After bath was over, we read a few good books.  None of them had kids smearing acrylic paint on their faces, but whatever.  I believe I was midway through "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" when I heard an awful sound.

Any dog or cat owner knows this sound, and they cringe when they hear it.

Yep, the diaper cream & tube had made a comeback.  Do you think Moses would have at least helped me out by aiming for the hardwood?  Nope.  Right on the carpet.  An inch from the hardwood.

So it was one of those days.  One of those days that you just know there will be paint/puke/diaper cream/fill-in-the-blank lurking around every stinkin' corner.

And at that realization, I have a choice.  I can fight it with all my might, or I can just embrace it.  Throw in the towel.  Admit defeat.

I chose to just give in.  Some days are just like that.  No matter how hard you fight to make everything work - it just doesn't.  And that's okay.  So I embraced messiness today.

If little boy wants to paint, we'll paint.

{pause}

This time, we used fingerpaint :)

{play}

See Moses?
Sicker than a dog.
Because what could be worse than a mama who doesn't understand little boys?
What could be more pitiful than a mama who doesn't allow her little boy to enjoy little-boy-ness?
What would be more unfortunate than a mama who prefers perfection over imagination & creativity?


Today, we embraced whatever our day threw at us.  Around here, we choose our battles - and this was a battle not worth fighting.


And guess what?  As I snuggled up with this sweet baby before nap time, I knew in my heart that he had fun.  I even had fun.  It was a good day.

Because we embraced it.  Enjoyed it.  Relished in it.

Sometimes, that's just what you gotta do.

Linking up with finding joy...join us - it's fun!

friday favorite things | finding joy


One Thing I Know For Sure: "A boy is trust with dirt paint on it's face, beauty with a cut on it's finger, wisdom with bubble gum in it's hair, and the hope of the future with a frog in it's pocket.  Wonder.  Dream.  Play.  Explore.  Find.  Discover." -author unknown


++PLEASE - don't forget about my fundraising link-up.  Visit those fundraisers - and GIVE.  Then, please SHARE.  The adorable painted boy you see in this post was brought home by people like YOU who were willing to give a few bucks.  PLEASE...donate.  Share.  It's so, so important.  

7 comments:

  1. Good for you for "givin' in"! :-) I admit - I don't do that nearly enough...hardly ever...sigh.

    EEWWWW about the dog puke though. :-(

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  2. Good job sweet girl!!!! I wish I had sported your attitude when Jake and Ben were young. I was a neat freak,hated messes and got very cranky over it. That is one do over I would take if given the chance!!!

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  3. Just wait until Carter has a brother... what one doesn't think of, the other will! I never would have believed it until we had our second. I can't imagine what 3 boys will get themselves into !!??!!

    The BEST advice I was given shortly after our eldest's birth is
    "A little boy can survive a few broken bones. What he can't survive is a Mom who won't let him do/try anything."

    (I'm hoping we'll NOT have any broken bones, but that bit of advice has helped me "let boys be boys".)

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  4. :) Reminds me of my two oldest girls who are 10.5 months apart... oh the fun they have had over the years.... sneaking out of their room in the middle of the night to make "breakfast" aka - red kool-aid, full box of cereal, and full bag of sugar, and just enough water to make a nice big stain and everything VERY sticky... on the carpet.... and then a few years later, they gave each other haircuts... and no, not nice little haircuts, but poor Ariel was sporting hair as short as Carter's (and before it was down to the middle of her back)... and this happened the day before her first day of school, sigh... sometimes you just have to stop and think of all the wonderful laughs you will get from it YEARS later...

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  5. Oh, I love to hear it! It brings back so many wonderful memories! Lucky for you, my daughter, I didn't worry about your messes when you were little....I took most of them in stride and just smiled and laughed. Life is to precious and you were so darn cute. You learn to pick it up once a day and that's long after you laid your precious one down for the night.

    You're a great Mom!

    Love, Mom

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  6. He is absolutely adorable! :) And it looks like he had so much fun! Happy Friday!

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  7. Get "Purple, Green and Yellow" by Robert Munsch.

    ReplyDelete

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