I am having one of those days.
One of those days where I can't believe the words that come out of my mouth. In the midst of a fort building afternoon (which proudly leads me to believe that Julia will be an amazing architect who will design me a house with a view one day), I heard a muffled cry from Charlie. Since my hands were full with wet towels mopping up an, "Oops, I didn't make it to the bathroom because the fort holds me captive" potty moment, I realized that I didn't have the resources to save Charlie, so I simply shouted, "Julia, can your brother breathe? Just make sure he can breathe!" She assured me that Charlie could breathe and in a few moments he came toddling toward me for the added piece of mind that he was freed from the fortress.
One of those days where I can't believe the words that come out of my mouth. In the midst of a fort building afternoon (which proudly leads me to believe that Julia will be an amazing architect who will design me a house with a view one day), I heard a muffled cry from Charlie. Since my hands were full with wet towels mopping up an, "Oops, I didn't make it to the bathroom because the fort holds me captive" potty moment, I realized that I didn't have the resources to save Charlie, so I simply shouted, "Julia, can your brother breathe? Just make sure he can breathe!" She assured me that Charlie could breathe and in a few moments he came toddling toward me for the added piece of mind that he was freed from the fortress.
While I don't promote trusting a 3-year old to look out for the wellbeing of a 15-month old, I realize the daily need to triage much of what's going on around me. It's the reason why nothing in my house gets put away, it just gets placed somewhere else while I have to throw it to the side to grab Charlie from his summit on top of the dining room table. It explains why Julia's new phrase is, "Will I have to ask you again in 5 minutes?" The bottom line is that most of the time I see the tasks ahead, but I can't get out of my own way. Life feels like an obstacle course right now, the kind that you look at from the outside and think that it's simple but once your doing the army crawl you realize that you weren't quite cut out for this.
Sometimes it takes a phrase you never thought you say coming out of your mouth or a humbling scenario that makes you wonder who is in charge. These precious cherubs fill me unlimited joy and a dose of hair-raising reality. Well, today I have earned my merit badge. The one that involves Tent Making, Teaching Children to Follow the Rules, Home Organization, the ever so coveted Baking Badge (for multiple Halloween parties), Potty Training 101 (when I thought we had accomplished this one months ago), Teaching a Teething Toddler not to Bite, and How Long Can my Dog Last before I have to Pack Everyone Up to Take Her for a Walk? Badge. The ones I never cared about or acheived as a trusty girl scout. On days like this I wish I'd focused a little bit more on that Survival badge years ago.
Don't let these little faces full you parenting is not for the faint of heart. :)
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