That is about the best parenting advice I can give you, especially if you parent boys. They are just delightful...most of the time...that is, until you are trying to repair something at 10:00 pm and it won't fix!
This morning as I was looking for something to wear in my closet, I just happen to look up. When I did, I noticed something was wrong with the attic door. Then I remembered this little voice asking me, a few days prior, "What is an attic?"
The only entrance into our attic that we never use is a small square in the top of my closet. I have never even opened that door.
We live in the country and I have absolutely no idea what might live up there in the attic, but my first thought would be the possibility of a mouse! I hate mice with a passion! I'm not scared of them, but they are disgusting and make huge messes that I have to clean up! So I have always made sure that even the smallest crack around that door is caulked shut!!
Low and behold that door, which is actually nothing more than an old piece of beat up sheetrock, is pushed up! It's not totally off, but you can see it is open all around the square. My son had pushed it straight up and it was stuck.
I was in a hurry to get to work so I left it as it was and closed the closet doors. I didn't want all my air conditioning cooling the attic!
Unfortunately it was late when we got home. I remembered the closet and had a conversation with my son about it. He told me he could not get it shut. At first we tried together...and I was calm. When that didn't work, he got down and I tried...still calm. I sent him to get in the shower while I tried to complete this simple task
It's a square. Just a square! But that darn piece of a door would not go back in. And to make matters worse, there was dirt and pieces of crap falling out of the attic and down my arm!
Did I mention it was late? My patience may have begun wearing thin. I got down to fetch a smaller stool and discovered that Denise The Mentice was NOT in the shower! After a short discussion (it could have been a little more like a come to Jesus meeting!), he was in the shower and I was back on task.
The dirt and other remains are steadily falling down the right side of my arm. I'm lodged sideways, standing on the edge of a stool, trying to finagle this thing with one arm. Needless to say, I may have lost all patience by now.
I get down again. Walk into the hall and both linen closet doors are wide open. Numerous towels are laying on the floor. These towels are outside the bathroom door, not inside where my son could actually use them. As I glance over at the door I notice there are two more towels poking out from under the bathroom door. One boy. Five towels that I can actually see. My temperature is rising through the roof at this site. There is nothing that makes a mama madder than clean laundry on the floor!!! I sent the boy to take a bath not wreck the rest of the house.
I slam the linen closet doors shut. I have had about all the little boy disasters I can handle for one night! My husband comes to see what is wrong. (If a woman is slamming a door, something is always wrong!)
He laughed a little and gave me a hug and then tried to fix the attic door. I warned him he too would be acting like me if he tried to fix it. He attempted it but also had no luck. So we both gave up.
When my son finished his shower, I asked him what was up with the towels. He explained he was "keeping the crickets out of the bathroom". Did I mention we have a cricket infestation right now? Add crickets to this story and you begin to see the craziness!
A little later I hear a banging sound coming from the bathroom. What now? My son comes out holding the toothbrush holder that is normally stuck to the wall. "I can't get it to stay on the wall?" Really? Really!!!
"Just put it down and step away from the bathroom," I try to say in the calmest voice I can muster up. When I go in to see about it, I quickly realize the problem. The holder only holds four toothbrushes and he has managed to squeeze eight in it, making it way to heavy to hang on the wall. (We are a family of four so it is beyond me why we even have that many toothbrushes.)
A friend of mine once said, "These are the things memories are made of!" If I survive parenting, I'm sure the memories will be hilarious. Until then, I may have to take up drinking.
Deep breath in....deep breath out...remember that you love your kids, even on the days that everything is broken. They really are precious...when they are asleep. :)
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| In situations like these, I meditate on this thought! |
I just read this blog post. It has been almost one year to the date I wrote it. I can laugh now. And, honestly this seems like so long ago. I can't believe it was only a year ago. Unfortunately, my son's ability to break everything he touches is still going strong. It has almost become a joke at this point. He is ten now. I laugh and tell him, "don't even look at it! Or it will break!" I don't know how my sister-in-law manages with three boys. But, you gotta love them! They are sweet as pie and cute as all get-out! :)
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