Calmed by the chaos

"Please don't hit the dog with your carrot!"

As parents, we often utter — and overhear — phrases that are totally off the wall when not in context of certain situations. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would say those words in that order in one breath. Ever. But, I said it this morning thanks to the current youngest goober in the family.

Charlotte has been trying for 10 months to cut teeth, only succeeding so far to have two bottom pearly whites pop through. Since she likes to chew on anything she can to ease the pain, I washed up a carrot while making soup and handed it to her to gnaw on. She started off nibbling gently. Then promptly chomped down on it, got pissed off because her face hurt and started beating our Lab mix, Bailey, in the head with said carrot. Naturally, she was screaming and the tears started flowing as though the dog had been the one hitting her instead of the opposite.

Things like this are always happening in our house. Josie tries to ride on her sister like a pony, or climb on Bailey in an attempt to further her chances of being a professional bull rider later in life, and in an attempt to stop someone from getting hurt we catch ourselves saying the most ridiculous things. The only surefire result is a fit of laughter in most cases. Unless, of course, someone actually has gotten hurt.



Our home isn't all princesses and fairy tale stories, despite having two daughters. We lack a lot of pink and purple where most would expect to see it — like their wardrobes and bedroom walls, which are both mostly blue. My girls play rough and my girls wear jeans; they're mini me in duplicate. Sure, this morning (after the carrot incident) we walked on our tip-toes and worked on stretching like Josie is supposed to do at the beginning of her dance class, every week, but it was short lived before they were attacking me and pretending to be Superman flying through the air.

Some days, this house is complete chaos from the time we get up until Charlie goes down for a nap. I get an hour or more reprieve from playing with Mega Bloks, coloring, picking up the broken crayons we were coloring with, cleaning up spilled dog food/water and using my hand dandy Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on every surface in our home to start dinner or stare at the wall while Josie enjoys some quiet play time or a movie.

I'm far from Super Mom, but sure do try.

And, as if all we did today before 10 a.m. hadn't physically exhausted me, Josie's nugget of wisdom closer to lunch was the clincher on mental exhaustion:

"Want me to pull your hair? Want me poke you nose!?"

I really hope someday Charlie appreciates the kind of love her big sister is showing her now. It truly is a love only siblings can have for one another.


Someone please pass the wine ...