Interests:Of course, I love Jesus, my husband, and my son (and yes in that order). Secondly, I love art (reading, writing, music, dance, knitting, crochet, weaving, piano, cooking... and no, not in that order). I like to be creative! Thirdly, I like to be active... being outside is the bomb. Expertise:Telling people about the Lover of my soul, acting, living on a bus, being an identical twin... hehe! Occupation:Stay at home mom Industry:Arbonne International
(Hey everyone, I've started a new blog that will soon replace this one. Check it out here.)
The Cleaning Service:
So my son thinks cleaning is a game.Really!He’ll grab the broom from behind the fridge at any given opportunity and go whisking it around the house.I can give him a cloth with some cleaner on it (child safe, of course) and he’ll dust every single surface he can get his chubby little hands on.Picking up toys?No problem!He knows just where they all go, and will even cheerfully sing a song while he’s at it.
This phenomenon has my brain thinking (dangerous stuff that!).What if this behavior continues?I mean really, what if I can just keep this “fun” attitude toward cleaning alive long enough for it to become permanent?What if I can manage to pass it on to all my other children? …. *dream bubble begins to grow*… I can see it all now!
“Welcome to my humble abode!” I say as I open the door to a large group of women.They all cheerfully enter my home and loud gasps erupt from each one.
“I thought you had 6 kids?”
“I thought they were all boys?”
“How on earth do you maintain such a CLEAN house?”
“Yes, please… We beg you, tell us which cleaning service it is you use!”
Oh I can just taste their jealousy.As each sweet little housewife envies my immaculate home and mothering ways, I’ll just smile and say that the secret to my clean home is a family secret.And I’ll leave it at that.Let them think I’m super mom!
Meanwhile, my now 16 year old son (oh gosh, will he really be that old one day?*gasp*) is out kicking around a soccer ball with the neighbor kids.And conversation comes up that his buddy can’t go out until he cleans his room, and how much he hates to clean.I can just see it when my son walks back in the door.
“Mom!John’s room is dirty. Like really dirty.And you wanna know why?He hates cleaning.He told me cleaning isn’t a game. Cleaning isn’t a game?!!You mean you’ve lied to me my whole life?!I hate you!This is child labor!”
Oh baby, mommy didn’t lie to you.She just needed some help around the house.
Well, it may or may not go down that way. But in the meantime, my son has no clue how to even spell “child labor” much less understand what it means.Zachy, sweetie, lovey, baby, sugar pie?Wanna fold my laundry?I have a few Bon Bons that desperately need my attention.
Come on, what mother wouldn’t do it if she could?
I know of at least one who would: The Mother of a Two Year Old.
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You know, it absolutely amazes me what kids will sleep through.Well, I guess I shouldn’t say “kids” as if everyone’s kids sleep like mine does.I remember meeting our neighbor across the street when we first moved in.Zach was about 3 or 4 months old and her son was maybe 10 months. She couldn’t get him to sleep through the train going by or a knock at the door.
Normally Zach really sleeps like a rock.It’s truly amazing to me what he’ll sleep through.Like today for instance…
I was enjoying some peace and quiet and taking the opportunity to balance the checkbook while my son had his afternoon nap.Today was one of those rare days when I laid him down and he actually went to sleep right away (Oh blissful, perfect offspring of mine!).Everything was going great and my numbers were actually adding up right, when suddenly I realized that that weird beeping noise wasn’t something in my head.
What is that?
I listened thinking it was a car alarm going off down the street.Nope. I listened harder thinking it might be the tornado alarm testing.Not that either. And then it dawns on me what that faintly familiar sound is.
You see, a while back I got annoyed at never knowing the time while I was sitting in my son’s room.So I bought a nifty little clock and stuck it in there.Ok, not so nifty overly… it was a five dollar alarm clock I got at the grocery store, but hey!Now I knew what the time was!Go figure it didn’t take long before my son realized it had buttons… and like any two year old, anything with buttons is fair game for play.So much for my brilliant idea, since now the time showing is NEVER right. Well, in the midst of re-setting the time to whatever his little heart desires, every once in a while, he also sets the alarm.I’m pretty good about checking to make sure it’s off.
Pretty good.
And I’m now realizing that my peace is about to be interrupted since that same alarm is going off in his room where he’s napping!!!I’m pretty sure it’s been beeping at me for like, ten minutes.
I race to his room (on my tip toes so I’m quiet and don’t sound like an elephant stampeding down the hall) and sneak his door open, completely prepared to find him awake and playing with his toys, or even the clock it’s self.
But he’s not!He’s sleeping like a little angel.I walk across his room (on my toes still) and turn it off.Surely he’ll wake up when the noise stops.He didn’t!I leave his room, shut the door, and hold my breath.
1… 2… 3… …. … 10….
He doesn’t wake up!
And then there was our summer trip to see my family for the 4th of July.Now last year, Zach was a little over a year old and he LOVED the fireworks!He just kept saying “Mama!Wow!Ooohh!”So naturally this year I was just as excited to see how he would react to the display.
Now, before I continue with my story, let me explain something to you.My family has found the absolute best fireworks display in the entire country.No really it’s true (and no, I am NOT going to tell you where it is.Too many people know already, those shmucks!)!Up in the beautiful Rocky Mountains, the local fire department takes donations every year and sets them off on a hill just over the town.The display literally goes off right over your head (watch out for those sparks!!!), with bangs and explosions going off like an old school cannon war (you can feel them in your whole body, and one year it rattled the hotel key out of my pocket so that we had to break into our room.. true story), and wonderful rumbles echoing down the canyons for miles, turning around, and coming back!My sister who has been to Disney’s Magic Kingdom and seen their display agrees they have nothing on this!
So, you can only imagine the noise that happens.My wonderful two year old had a pretty rough day when we went up to see them, and just about the time it started had begun to calm down.I had him wrapped in blankets (remember, it’s in the Rockies) and thought I’d put his jacket over his head since I couldn’t find a hat.The first booms went off to the cheers of the crowd sitting in their tailgates and I just waited for his excited exclamations to begin.
He listened to the booms as he saw the first few go off, looked up at me so sadly, then closed his jacket like a curtain.I thought he was being silly, so I tried to pry it open.He refused to budge!I let him be for another minute then peeked again.THE KID HAD GONE TO SLEEP!Slept through the whole thing!
Really, it amazes me what he’ll sleep through.Because it’s not just alarms and fireworks he’ll sleep through.Here in Texas we have some really great storms.I’ve been woken up in the middle of the night more than once, scared $#!^-less because thunder loud enough to rattle the windows went off and I’m pretty sure a tree is going to smash through my roof.Do I hear a peep from our son? Not at all.My husband and I can be watching the latest smash, crash, and boom movie at full volume (don’t you just love feeling like you are going smash, crash, and boom right along with them?) and ne’er do I hear a peep.Dogs barking?No problem.Fire engine racing by at two in the morning, siren blaring?Sleeping like a lamb.
But watch out!Because the instant I need to do laundry, go figure it will be in the middle of his nap, and I’ll have forgotten to bring his laundry basket out with me.But he’s a good sleeper… I’ll just sneak in, grab it and be out again.Oh no ma’am you won’t!Any other mother’s out there know what I’m talking about?This kid - who will sleep through natural disasters, sirens, barks, explosions, and alarms - must have mom-is-being-sneaky radar.Go figure if all I need is laundry, the instant I open the door and step foot in his room he’ll be awake.And good luck getting him to go BACK to sleep after that!
He also must have people-are-coming-over-if-I’m-sleeping-I’ll-miss-the-fun radar.My husband and I chasing each other around and laughing ridiculously hard?Doesn’t phase him.Jeff coming over to drop off the carpet shampooer?As soon as he says “Hi,” Zach’s up and asking to be let out of his room.
Ugh.
Isn’t it just amazing what kids will sleep through?
