Kibbles and ants
Have you ever had one of those moments as a mom when you stand in stunned silence trying to absorb the level of destruction that one or two little children have rendered on your entire house? I had one of those moments this morning.
Let me preface with the fact that I've been incredibly sick the past month. I just had a regression over the weekend and I can't hardly talk my throat is so sore. Needless to say, I've been in an exhausted haze. Waking up before eight in the morning has been a challenge. What I find behind the boy's bedroom door in the morning sets the mood for the entire day. It's a defining moment. Will my children behave like angels or hellions?
This morning I was surprised to wake up looking at a clock that said 8:45! I tore the covers off only to hear silence across the hallway. When you become a parent, silence doesn't bring peace. It induces panic. I whipped open my door to find that the boys bedroom door was open and their bedroom was not only torn apart, but empty. Someone, who will remain nameless, did not latch their bedroom door last night after bedtime. This was not anywhere near the worst of my problems. I followed the trail of evidence...blankets strewn across the stairs, books and shoes that had been thrown to the landing, a bowl of half spilled dog water, open kitchen cabinets, crackers crushed all over the kitchen floor, Risk game pieces spread across the family room, and then the worst...a chair scooted up to an unlocked garage door. I took a deep breath.
Jeremiah was inside my truck opening and closing the garage door with the remote. I found Liam in the driveway! 'Worst Parent of the Year' award goes to me. First I took the garage door opener from Jeremiah so he didn't shut me out, while I then chased the child trying to escape. I put Liam inside and grabbed Jeremiah out of the truck. The interior of the truck was unrecognizable. The glove box was empty. Every piece and remnant of their diaper bag has yet to be located. The trash bag was emptied. Styrofoam cups that had anything left in them were dumped in their car seats then shredded. Keep in mind, this is just the truck.
Liam had dumped an entire box of dog food out ALL over our two space garage floor. We are talking 35lbs worth of dog food that was not only spread across the floor, but was hand scooped and thrown behind every difficult to reach area of the garage. This took incredibly concentrated effort on Liam's part, who barely sits down to eat. I wish I could say I was impressed. I couldn't hardly see the garage floor, not to mention that all the food was already attracting ants. Awesome. Ryan's tool box was completely emptied and a box of screws was mixed in with the dog food and ants. Jeremiah stayed to help me clean up some of this mess before he went inside.
While I was sweeping and using the shop vac to clean up the dog food, Jeremiah promptly locked me out. I anticipated this would happen and had wisely brought my keys out with me. Inaudible thought: "One step ahead of you, punk!" Not so much. I came inside again to silence and an empty family room. There was stomping upstairs so I guessed they were in my room wreaking havoc. Sure enough, Jeremiah was sitting on a stack of clean clothes eating a box of cookies and Liam was busy emptying half a bottle of febreze on Ryan's side of the bed. The artificial lavender scent was stifling.
Now that I can't leave them alone while I clean, I have a mess and a massive stack of laundry waiting for me whenever the beauty of nap time arrives. I write this as Liam is spitting tub water in Jeremiah's face, Jeremiah choking and loudly objecting.
Pray for me.
Let me preface with the fact that I've been incredibly sick the past month. I just had a regression over the weekend and I can't hardly talk my throat is so sore. Needless to say, I've been in an exhausted haze. Waking up before eight in the morning has been a challenge. What I find behind the boy's bedroom door in the morning sets the mood for the entire day. It's a defining moment. Will my children behave like angels or hellions?
This morning I was surprised to wake up looking at a clock that said 8:45! I tore the covers off only to hear silence across the hallway. When you become a parent, silence doesn't bring peace. It induces panic. I whipped open my door to find that the boys bedroom door was open and their bedroom was not only torn apart, but empty. Someone, who will remain nameless, did not latch their bedroom door last night after bedtime. This was not anywhere near the worst of my problems. I followed the trail of evidence...blankets strewn across the stairs, books and shoes that had been thrown to the landing, a bowl of half spilled dog water, open kitchen cabinets, crackers crushed all over the kitchen floor, Risk game pieces spread across the family room, and then the worst...a chair scooted up to an unlocked garage door. I took a deep breath.
Jeremiah was inside my truck opening and closing the garage door with the remote. I found Liam in the driveway! 'Worst Parent of the Year' award goes to me. First I took the garage door opener from Jeremiah so he didn't shut me out, while I then chased the child trying to escape. I put Liam inside and grabbed Jeremiah out of the truck. The interior of the truck was unrecognizable. The glove box was empty. Every piece and remnant of their diaper bag has yet to be located. The trash bag was emptied. Styrofoam cups that had anything left in them were dumped in their car seats then shredded. Keep in mind, this is just the truck.
Liam had dumped an entire box of dog food out ALL over our two space garage floor. We are talking 35lbs worth of dog food that was not only spread across the floor, but was hand scooped and thrown behind every difficult to reach area of the garage. This took incredibly concentrated effort on Liam's part, who barely sits down to eat. I wish I could say I was impressed. I couldn't hardly see the garage floor, not to mention that all the food was already attracting ants. Awesome. Ryan's tool box was completely emptied and a box of screws was mixed in with the dog food and ants. Jeremiah stayed to help me clean up some of this mess before he went inside.
While I was sweeping and using the shop vac to clean up the dog food, Jeremiah promptly locked me out. I anticipated this would happen and had wisely brought my keys out with me. Inaudible thought: "One step ahead of you, punk!" Not so much. I came inside again to silence and an empty family room. There was stomping upstairs so I guessed they were in my room wreaking havoc. Sure enough, Jeremiah was sitting on a stack of clean clothes eating a box of cookies and Liam was busy emptying half a bottle of febreze on Ryan's side of the bed. The artificial lavender scent was stifling.
Now that I can't leave them alone while I clean, I have a mess and a massive stack of laundry waiting for me whenever the beauty of nap time arrives. I write this as Liam is spitting tub water in Jeremiah's face, Jeremiah choking and loudly objecting.
Pray for me.
Copyright 2014 ->Renee Sunberg
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