Monday, July 28, 2008

A Balm for Many Wounds, and TP - A Classic Whodunit

I should have known it was only a matter of time. As I was cooking breakfast and chatting away on the phone I should have realized that the uncharacteristic silence on the monitor did not signify that my girls had gone back to sleep. I should have known that the end of storing baby care products in Theia's top dresser drawer was upon me. I was quickly brought to this realization after I mounted the stairs, wondering all the while what was the sweet smell that grew stronger with each step, then wondered no more when I was greeted with the sight of my two year old up to her elbows in baby-powder scented petroleum jelly. Now, truly I had never told Theia NOT to open tubs of vaseline and similarly textured products, so there was nothing to do except tell her that this activity is NOT okay, and wonder if there is any hope that her two year old mind will make the crossover application to shampoo, cleaning products, and paint cans. I then leave a devastated Eliza in her crib so I can accompany Theia downstairs, as I didn't have "grease walls in stairway" on my agenda for today.

The problem with having two children whose maturity is not quite on par with their mobility is that when you discover your bathroom floor billowing with toilet paper, its really quite impossible to know which child to address with the issue. Do I ask Theia, who is sitting in her high chair, looking quite incapable of such atrocities, if she did it? I realize that no matter what answer I get from her it likely will not be reliable information, and if Eliza actually did it I don't want to confuse Theia by telling her not to do something again that she can't very well do "again" since she never did it in the first place. Same goes for Eliza, plus I doubt that any admonishments will have much effect on her since its obviously been more than two minutes since the deed was done. So, what is there to do except wind the TP back on its roll and feed the girls their lunch? Nothing , apparently.

2 comments:

Our Growing Family said...

That was hilarious but unfortunate as well! Thank you for your encouragement... you too are amazing as you care for two children now and are about welcome another one... at least one of mine is 5 and I give 2 back at the end of the day!

Nyla said...

I love this post! It is so true...when the kids are quiet...that means they are into something!

I have pictures of my little ones unrolling TP when my oldest was potty training! Good times! My middle child (at the time the youngest) knew what they did was wrong...because when I found them, he was hiding behind the shower curtain. The oldest was on the pottty! Oh, the good ole days!