It could be worse

Most of my adult life I have been a glass half full gal. So it should come as no surprise that with parenting I view all situations with an "it could have been worse " moto. Raising 3 neuro-typical children and 1 special needs child I have plenty of opportunities to say this to myself. Most recently Caroline ran up from the basement where the kids had been playing to tell me Mitchell was sticking his head in the toilet and he didn't he any clothes on. What could have been worse? In my mind worse would be if he had gone to the bathroom before hand and kept his clothes on so they are now soaked. But being the neat person he is these days and I'm sure thinking ahead for mommy's reaction (ha ha) the toilet was clean and his clothes were dry enough to put right back on after a stepping into the shower. I think if I didn't see things the way I would have lost my mind a long time ago. Yesterday when Mitchell decided to pee through the second floor railing all over the couch, it could have been worse how? Easy, if someone was sitting on the couch.. No one was hurt in the incident and it sets a pretty low standard for the rest of my day.

Clean Bathroom

I've managed to get through 13 yrs of marriage & 4 kids without the messy toilets I hear about from people who struggle daily to keep them clean. Steve is a clean person, a little OCD, Steven sat to pee until 1 st grade and Mitchell chose to sit when we potty trained 6 months ago. I always loved that my bathroom didn't require as much maintenance as others. Out of the blue, last night, my dad went to check on Mitchell in the bathroom and found him spraying it with his pee. Why wouldn't he it looks like so much fun? So everytime he went to bathroom today I had to follow with paper towels & clorox wipes. I was amazed at how far that spray goes. Wow! And now it seems like he's going less often so he can get a longer/higher stream. Maybe yhat's just in my head. Is this what I have missed all these years. Our bathroom is getting much dirtier but ends up even cleaner because it's bring disinfected every couple hours. I am curious though what caused this chane in his behavior. He doesn't watch anyone else go potty so is it just an instinct that kicked in? The way he does it, like not pulling his pants all the way down, isn't something we taught him, he just does it. So messy, gross bathroom and all this is a HUGE step for Mitchell. Might be considered a minor milestone for other people but a relatively large one for us in that it makes him more typical. Wish I could get into that brilliant mind of his and see how he figures it all out.

Happy Wednesday

So it's Wednesday and MOPS is starting up again after a month break. I can't wait o see my friends and have some great conversation & food. I look at the clock, it's 8:10am and figure I have enough time to shower before the kids head out the bus. Up I head, feeling good at how the morning is playing out. Shuffle of feet, knock on the door " mommy? The toilet downstairs overflowed.". "what? Oh my gosh, is there water all over the floor?". "no, just a little". " ok, shut the door and keep Mitchell out, I'll be right down". "ok but he's not in there...anymore". Cursing, that isn't good. "ahhh Mitchell peed on Steven's Legos". Of course he did, where else would he go when he's shooed out of the only bathroom without a child lock. I check on Mitchell, he's dressed so I head to clean up bathroom before cleaning Steven's room. Bathroom isn't as bad as I anticipated. When asked if she used too much toilet paper, Caroline said Mitchell put some in, then took it out. This would explain the soggy TP now stuck to my walls. 10 minutes before I need to send the older ones out to the bus, so I grab the pee items upstairs to soak in bleach. Walking back into the bedroom I smell that all too familiar smell. "where did you poop?" I ask. There it is, one more mess to clean before I can eave the house. I managed to get everyone on their buses on time and Grace & I out the door only minutes behind schedule. At MOPS I am reminded to keep "me" in my life and look for the good in things. Oddly enough there are a lot of good things everyday in my life, even this morning. For me, cleaning up reminds me that I do have 4 awesome kids and I see "me" in them. What would I do with my time if I didn't have them in my life? Here & now is right where I want to be, nowhere else.

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish I had a working camera to capture all the new memories we created today. The Iveys have officially taken over the Steele family Thanksgving this year and although the Aunts, Uncles & cousins went out of town for the holiday, it was still a festive event. It kinda felt like any other day with Jim, Amy, the kids and my folks over but with better food. We managed to eat within 30 minutes of my schedule time and everything was super yummy. I put the turkey in the oven exactly when I had planned and was so proud of myself for stuffing it with my homemade stuffing. The was an issue with the ham because when I figured out the cooking time I was looking at the cost per pound number instead of the weight so we needed to adjust for the ham. It was all good though and forgotten about when I turned the mixer up instead of off as I took it out of the mashed potatoes and shot it all over myself. I ended up with 3 burns by the time it was over and Steve squirted himself with turkey juice while making the gravy. Mitchell was on his best behavior today...ya right. He was stripping down and peeing everywhere he could when not being watched. Downstairs on new stair rail, throughh window of doll house. Then he bit Steven & Andrew leaving a nasty markon each. He was sent to his room both times and did stay in there quietly for his punishment. Both times he was mad they were trying to prevent him from climbing. He also decided he wasn't going to eat with us and took his bacon upstairs. By the time dessert was served we could barely move off the couch. I made my famous chocolate eclaire cake and uncle Jimmy taught Grace how to scrape the chocolate off the top without getting pudding on the spoon. Now our guests have left. Steve has gone to Jack's with Caroline & Grace, Steven is playing on computer and Mitchell is finishing ff a box of rice rusks. Thinking its going to be an early night for all.