Someday We'll Laugh About This...

Argh! Today the kids have been productive...but naughty. Sometimes those two overlap in interesting ways.

Auntie Julia so generously gave her time yesterday cleaning up the kids' rooms. This is great motivation to me to stick to my cleaning too. Thanks, Julia!

This morning, Vincent, Erin and I spent time ensuring that their rooms stayed clean. This involved picking up all the books that inevitably come out at bedtime and as little ones "fall asleep", putting additional outfit options away, and general decluttering. As a reward for keeping their rooms clean, we talked about how their rooms could be painted or decorated with some themed items I had bought at Target on clearance.

I left the kids in Vincent's room playing nicely when Mary needed to be fed. Eventually, I realized the playful babble had become deafening silence. Although silence is rare and enjoyable at the moment, it usually means they are up to no good! And indeed they were. From the top of the stairs I could see two little arms reaching up and tearing wallpaper off the wall! This was completely logical to their little minds because we had just talked about redecorating their rooms. It was a project we have thought about pursuing, but not in that fashion!

After we all cleaned up that mess, I put Mary back to sleep. The three of us went downstairs to start some arts and crafts. I thought this would be a good time to give Erin's bangs a trim. I got out the necessary equipment and had already wet her hair. Then, Mary started to cry, so I thoughtlessly went to her, leaving the equipment up on the counter, out of eyesight. I trusted the other two to continue with their crafts, but they had some new crafts in mind. When I came downstairs with Mary, there were several locks of Erin's hair on the floor. The odd thing was that two spots were cut in different ways - and Vincent had not tattled on Erin as soon as she did something. My suspicions were confirmed when Erin pointed to her partner in crime saying "he did it too!" So much for saving money by doing it myself - we will be off to get a short hair cut in the coming days.

I did end up saving a lock of Erin's golden brown hair. Despite my frustration at the time, I still treasure this time with them - how curious and active they are, and how unique is everything about them from the tip of their toes to hairs on their heads (although slightly less right now). But these two incidents required a time out. I marched them up to their bedrooms and set them down to think about both the wallpaper removing and the hair cutting incidents. They actually did not resist this - phew!

The stories continue - true to our blog title again! As I sorted through mail and clutter in the family room, the kids started playing with some empty boxes I had set up to use for decluttering. It was the classic picture of kids with empty boxes - climbing all the way inside, imagining them as various vehicles or interesting places. Very cute scenes will remain in my mind and memories. As Erin observed me using some small boxes, she also started "cleaning" or rather dumping everything she touched into a big box. A big tin of cookies Mark was to take to the office had been forgotten in the entry way. Erin stopped long enough to ask (leaning her lesson from the morning's events?) if she could put this in the box. Although I said "no, please don't touch those" she proceeded to lift the tin into the box. Literally every cookie slid out of the tin and into the box. I'm sure that wasn't her intention, but those tins are not toddler proof! Another exciting mess to clean up. We are on a roll today! The kids are doing the bulk of the cleaning, however, so that is some progress there!

Another vignette from the day brings us up to the present moment. Both the kids are up in bed for a nap. Little Erin, so independent ("I'll do it myself!") and particular (she knows what she wants), finds the decals, again for decorating her room. By the time I discover she is still awake, she has opened them and started sticking them to each other. It is a fixable predicament, and not a big mess, but what else can my kids get into today???!?

I am sad because I cannot trust them to be in sight or touch of anything anymore. But then again, I don't know why I ever thought it wouldn't be a problem, sooner or later. Perhaps it is misplaced trust, laziness on my part, or just too many balls in the air right now with a newborn added into the mix. We'll get through it, and they will grow (I hope more responsible), and I will trust them again (for better and worse, I'm sure). And someday I'll laugh about this...but not today!