Friday, March 14, 2008

Cookies and Flowers...

As a mom of a very active toddler, I struggle day to day deciding which battles to tackle that day and which ones really don't matter. One battle that I am throwing the towel in on is Christian's great ability to make a mess and destroy the house. I realize he is a three year old and it's his job to play and make a mess. I also realize that I have OCD issues and need to chill the freak out when it comes to fingerprints on the windows, smudges on the tables, and toys all over the house. I am TRYING to be okay with not having a spotless house; it's not an easy thing to deal with and accept. I am picking my battles with Christian, and constantly growling at home to not touch the windows or pick up his toys every five minutes isn't worth it. He is a little boy who likes to play and have fun. So I decided to have Christian help me make cookies. Now to most moms, this is a normal occurrence and not a big deal. To me, this was a huge step. I did find myself towards the end having to bite my tongue and not say, "No, do it like this." or "No, you don't want to make more flowers, we need more butterflies." I let him do it all by himself and he loved it. I normally don't let anyone in the kitchen with me when I am cooking or baking, but he enjoyed it so much that I may have to let him help me again...after I have recovered from last time.










Then the next day I cleaned the house. I had just finished vacuuming, so the vacuum was still out. I had to go upstairs and change Emma's diaper. Marcus called while I was upstairs so I talked to him for a minute and realized that Christian was being way too quite. When I left him downstairs, he was playing with his firetruck and all was well...that didn't last too long. I hobbled down the stairs and saw why he was so quite. I didn't freak, I didn't yell, I handled the situation like a pro. We have a bagless vacuum that Christian had decided to empty all over the carpet that I had just finished vacuuming less then ten minutes ago. When I asked him what he was doing, he ran towards me and said, "Look mommy, I found a flower. Here is a flower for you!" When I vacuumed, I vacuumed up a petal from a flower arrangement I have in my entryway. Christian wanted me to have the flower. Now I have to keep this nasty, dirty flower forever because my little boy gave it to me. I had to take him upstairs and get him all cleaned up and re vacuum the floor, but I didn't mind; I got a flower from my little boy.





Yes, I know that Christian rarely has pants on in his pictures. Remember I was talking about picking my battles? That's one I am not going to freak out about. He's a free spirit and doesn't like pants. I am okay with that.

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