She Laughs at the Days

I hear the screams from the far bathroom. "I had an accident."

I walk in to find the girl hanging from the counter where she's been washing her face, her legs dangling 6 inches above a giant puddle of pee. Why she isn't in the bathroom with a stool is a total mystery.

I get her down and plop her into the bath tub and grab the nearest towel to deal with the mess. I silently pat myself on the back for dealing with it so calmly.

I go into the kids bathroom to get the spray bottle for the floor and find a white floor mat with an odd brown spot on it lying in front of the tub. I stoop a little bit closer to investigate. Tell tale signs of partially digested food and feces sit nestled in the white folds.

Oh no, she didn't.

I return to the naked Girl splashing in the other tub and ask, "Did you use the mat to wipe poo off of your bum?"

"Yes, because it was on my leg."

"Why on earth would you think a clean towel could do the job when you are standing ne…

4 the number of teeth grown by the Baby in the past week or so
1 her very first head cold too
20 the number of times she wakes up at night
3 the number of times I have gone to bed without flossing this week
7 days before hanukkah starts
8 presents I need per child before then. I wonder if I can get away with new toothbrushes for one night again this year?
4 major sewing projects for said gifts
4 projects that I haven't started yet
4 days before MIL's birthday. I haven't started her present either.
2 little girls who have birthday this month
3 relatives who will be hurt if I don't give them a Christmas gift, (no matter how many times we ask them not to give us gifts or make a big deal.)
3 different craft projects begun for said relatives
1 hand knit washcloth finished so far
0 the amount of extra cash I have to work with this month
5 hours of sleep
27 straight days of posting for the real food revolution
87 random items strewn across my living room floor
5 wet towels on the bathroom fl…

This might sound sort of cheesy, but I'm thankful this year that I've made it this far.

When I think about it for a moment I realize that I have gotten 30 years with more happiness than sadness. I have had more than 7 years with the man I love with out tragedy or incident. I have beautiful children who are healthy and smart and, thus far, safe. When I think about how remarkable that is, compared to what most of the world experiences, I find myself over whelmed by gratitude.

Sure it hasn't always been easy. There have been difficulties to face, and challenges to overcome, but we have faced them, we have overcome. We have choices, options, and we have pulled through every hard circumstance thus far. I have faith that we will do so again if need be.

I feel that with such blessing comes great responsibility, to be wise with the privilege and wealth I have been given. I am poor by many western standards, but just in terms of education I am wealthier than most women in the world. I…

Well, it has finally hit. You are a little terror, but an adorable one, so we forgive you. You are mobile and excited about all of the cool stuff that you can grab and soak in your drool and then destroy before throwing it down on the ground and widening the path of desolation and litter that follows in your wake. Grab, growl at, bang together, throw to the side and then wrestle the next thing down, that's your current mode of operation. I once saw a show on Discovery channel about feral children. They told the story of children who had grown up with dogs or other animals and had survived in the pack somehow by acting like dogs. I remember wondering how a child, a tiny human child ,would be able to survive that kind of thing, and then I met you. You growl, you prowl, you feed yourself scraps and aggressively seek out food that mommy didn't give you. You like to grab leaves off of trees and berries and just chow down. I get the feeling that if anything ever happened to me, you&…

It's been a while, I know. My creative urges have been heading in the direction of knitting silver yarn to look like chain mail, for the Boy, altering a ball gown for my friend so it would fit over her nursing breasts and she could wear it to the Marine ball. Which I guess is prom all over again for military wives. And finishing slings, and trying to keep up with nablopomo at my other blog, the real food revolution. So you know, I suddenly look up and realize that it's been weeks and I have this back log of stuff to say. This Friday's small joy's are brought to you/me, mostly by my husband.

******


It's often frustrating being the spouse of an insomniac. Mine in particular has the hardest time
falling asleep, and stays awake all night staring at things and wishing he could sleep. Or lying in bed fidgeting and feeling irrationally angry at all of the peacefully sleeping people around him for being able to do what he can't. It's frustrating because I find myself …

Lesha.

Congratulations.

(I had the GH draw a name, since it's midnight and my kids are sleeping.)

Email me at shelaughsatthedays dot gmail dot com with your address by Tuesday and the height of your boy, neck to mid calf.

If I don't hear from you by Tuesday night I'll draw again from the remaining names.

It's time we had a talk you and I, just one on one. In a relationship such as ours it's easy to let things slide, I can ignore a lot of the things that you do that are annoying, biting my tongue and gritting my teeth until our brief meeting is over. I tell myself that we only meet a few times a month, often less, and I cut you slack. But that time is over.

You see, I have three children, all of whom are at the very beginning of their lives as parasitic consumers and I have this sinking feeling I may have to see a whole bunch more of you before this is over. So I'm not willing to just grit my teeth and bear it any longer. The gloves are comin' off.

You know that thing you do where you don't put prices on staple kids items, like socks and underwear, and you neglect to post signs also? Yeah, that' really irritating. Have you ever tried to drag three children through a toy store? Because if you have you might be aware that having to walk out of the dark dingy back co…

So I did promise to have another giveaway soon, this time for the boys cape. Seemed like the bloggy giveaway would be a good time. So, if you want to win this fabulous cape, perfect for young kings and knights in training, leave a comment below and I'll draw for the winner Sunday at midnight.
I'll make the cape to fit the winner.