I know I just posted about letting clothing go…or rather about not letting them go. So this might seem redundant, but we keep running into these markers – these reminders that time moves swiftly and takes sweet things away when it leaves…
And don’t get me wrong – this is in no way an admission of any sort of love for diapers or diaper changing…but this week we said goodbye to Quint’s diaper changing pad. And just like that, his dresser became a fully functioning, big-boy space. I was looking forward to it – to not changing diapers. And suddenly, he was potty trained and we had no need for that pad. No need to place him up there and get him dressed or cleaned up. Just no need for it anymore. You see, he can do those things now. He still needs our help, of course. But diapers are a thing of the past for him. And I’m so proud…but I’m sorry to see his babyhood leaving us. No more crib. No more diapers. No more sippy cups. No more…just leaving. Leaving me.
So meanwhile…
While I speak of coming to terms, can anyone tell me? Am I ever going to come to terms with this mess? No, for real-sies. Is this seriously my toll to pay in the parenting track? If so, just level with me. Because I am chasing messes all day long – and it’s going to make me a hairy monster. A hairy mommy monster. Just a mommy monster. I don’t know what the hair bit is about. I don’t even know why I said “hairy”. It’s not like I’m all hairy and stuff.
It’s not the point.
The point is, seriously? This mess is part of that emancipation “play in your room away from Mom” thing – and I love that they play in there and go all monkey or whatever – but I am still coming to terms with the tornado affect. Oh, and it comes out of the room. Into all other areas. I found the LEG of a Scooby Doo figure in my dresser. The leg, people. In my dresser.
This mothering gig? I’m still coming to terms with so much of it.
7 comments :
I'm impressed Quint let you change him on the dresser changing table. We had to give ours up when Oliver was 10 months old because wrangling him on it was dangerous. Maybe someday I will miss the makeshift changing table I create on my bed!!
As for the messes...I think it is something every parent struggles with daily. My kids have a basement playroom that serves as storage. They drag everything upstairs into the "nice" spaces making the entire house look like a toy store blew up.
Love reading your posts.
I so get you about the messes. We finally ended up labeling all of our bins with pictures and words, so that the Tongginator could more independently clean-up. The playroom looks a lot like my former classroom, but the rest of the house cleaned up a bit as a result. Just a bit, mind you. *grin*
Oh the never ending mess that is my chilrens bedrooms. James at nine will keep his clean a lot longer now, but I am always telling him to put his things up from the rest of the house. The good news is that HE puts it away and I am free to clean up after well you know the dogs and their dad. Miah is a whirlwind leaving a cloud of toys in her wake. I can have her room spotless and in less than ten min. she has every toy out and drug all over the house and her room. NOT fun. I try getting her to clean and she will do a little but more often than not when I send her to clean her room it ends up messier than when she started. She just plays really well on her own and has a big imagination so lots of things are needed for her role playing much to my dismay. I fear our home is well played in and at least we do not live in filth... just toys!
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it doesn't end...the cupboard doors are opened and left that way..the clothes end up where ever they fell..the sheer volume of toys is replaced by more compact toys like ipods, video games and stuff like that...but there are days when I think "when will this mess end?!"
I hear ya. I love a tidy, clutter-free organized space of neatness and joy. But it rarely happens that way. And almost NEVER happens MY way.
So I employ tricks like TM mentioned. And I confine certain toys (ugh, Legos are the BANE of my existence) to certain rooms. And I remember how I felt when Shaggy and Dr. D started confining their mess and their adolescence (before they came home to school last year) to their rooms. I missed them. I missed their sprawling bodies and trails of toys. I had to go up and hang out with them to see them after school. (It's a large part of the reason we brought them home, the missing and the preciousness of the limited time we will have them home like this in years to come.)
And now? The mess is different. It's voluminous: after all, five kids make a lot of mess even if only one of them made a little mess. It looks different. It certainly SMELLS different! (Think football -> winter track -> spring track -> soccer -> summer break, repeat.) And it's bound to look and feel and smell different-er as we go.
But the alternative? No mess ever? No stinky socks, no missing legs, no Legos? It's unthinkable. And I have to choose to be okay with that!
"I found the LEG of a Scooby Doo figure in my dresser. The leg, people. In my dresser."
Love it!
I think I'll be okay with messes. My type-A hubby on the other hand...let's just say I have genuine concerns.
Hmmm...could be we send the kids for a lil week-end visit with the grands and I could come over and sassify your table with rolodex cards and such and we can have an adult dinner party? I am sure you'd be ready for the kiddy mess when all was said and done! I know you wouldn't change it for the world!
oh, do I hear you in all your thoughts spilled out in this post! I cannot get rid of any of Lauren's clothes that she has grown out of and I seeing her growing up before my eye and I am so proud of her and who she is becoming, yet my heart twinges knowing there are moments that are slipping away that will never be brought back again such as the crib, etc. It makes me just take in each moment even more. :)
As far as the toy's, clutter, etc. oh my gosh... I used to have such a organized, clutter-free home and I have come to know how much of that was a part of ME. I now struggle every day with letting that part of me go so I can enjoy my girl and each moment. If it makes you feel better, I am sitting typing in our office that has become the office/toy room and I don't even know where to begin in cleaning this room up! The hard part is, I clean it up and it returns in seconds! hang in there, I have a feeling someday just like the crib, etc. we will miss having toys lying around and toy legs found in our drawers. :)
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