Skip to main content

I Live in the Kitchen

Kate hit the big TWO and decided to test all the boundaries and reassert her will. Which means she says NO to everything including peeing in the potty. She went from reliably dry all day to wetting herself every 1-2 hours.

So, today was recalibration day. I put the potty chairs in the kitchen, dressed she and James (who is a year older but behind her in every way, per the usual for my boys who hit all milestones on the late end of the curve) in only shirts, gave them water bottles, and planned a full day of kitchen cleaning.

Last night, laying in bed planning today I got myself all excited about spring cleaning and wondered if I could even get caught up on laundry, too. This was gonna be great!

Do you know what I did? I did dishes, made lunch, and emptied the veggie drawers in the fridge. That's it.

In short, 4 hours in the kitchen this morning covered just my usual kitchen chores. Sure, I was interrupted every five minutes by a kid thing because I had two underfoot. But still. I have now confirmed for myself that I wasn't imagining it and I actually do spend all day in the kitchen and laundry room.

Boy, it's a good thing I've been parenting for nearly two decades now and I have a great perspective on how quickly these phases pass. Otherwise I'd be incredibly discouraged about a life that has shrunk in scope to two rooms of the house and nonstop potty-and-M&Ms-talk.

Don't mind me. No, I'm not crying. Just chopping an onion. A lot of onions. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Family Visit Success!

Last weekend we did a family visit that was a return to how we'd first begun doing them. Theo and I drove the girls down and stayed and hung out with the family the whole time. The visit was just 1.5 hours long. Aunt made the lovely suggestion that good-byes would happen in the house and not at the car. She even coached grandma to do them quickly. So, we did a quick but sincere good-bye then left. No drama with grandma climbing over seats or Jane wailing from her car seat. And it all worked! Girls were cheerful and chatty on the way home! No nightmares for Jane that night! Kate was even okay--one day of extreme clinginess but then she returned to usual level of attachment-bonding cling! I'm so incredibly relieved! Because what would I have done if this hadn't worked?? I could not bear the thought of telling them we were stopping visits completely not least of all because I truly don't believe that would be the right path, long term. But now I don't have to f...

Halloween Hell

 Tomorrow the kids will do a daytime Trunk or Treat event with Grandma. I suggested the outing about two months ago, chose the event, coordinated a meeting place with her, bought the kids costumes, prepped them for it, and now it's happening. I did it all. And I am dreading it with every fiber in my being. All this week my mood has been sliding downhill the closer it gets.  I hate meet ups with Grandma. There was a time when I hated them less, now I hate them with visceral dread. Why? Because I don't want Grandma to know where the girls are in school.  It was a huge mistake to tell her our home address and last name. A few weeks after we did that I got a phone call from a relative telling me about Grandma sneaking her son back into other grandchildren's lives. The relative warned me to "look in the back seat of her car" in case she was hiding him in there when she came to visit us. Needless to say, she was never invited to our house again.  So, what do I do? Yes, ...

Turning Two in a Tutu

Kate turns two this week! After sixteen years of boys I'm going a little over the top with the pink and fluff but I just can't hold back. And with pictures like these, even minute of planning and prep was worth it! She loves to play dress up and have tea parties with her stuffed animals. She's so adorable! Jane and James are 3 and a half so I decided we needed to celebrate their half birthdays, too. Any excuse for a cupcake!