I worked at Rourk's office until 1:30 or so today. I was eager to get out of there because I still had lots of packing and preparation to do for our trip. I went by the church and picked up Lilly and went straight home. I am a list maker, so I looked at it and started gathering a few things together while I waited on Ryan to come home on the bus. Lilly patters around, stops by my pile of must-take items and starts rummaging through them. I try to distract her from this but quickly give up and decide that I'll take her outside to pull weeds. I know it may sound strange, but weed pulling is on my things-to-do list.
It doesn't take me long to pull the weeds and sprigs of grass that are peeking out from under the pine straw. Lilly is sitting on a clump of grass watching what I believe to be a carpenter bee swarm above her head. I decide that as long as she continues to just watch the bee I won't interfere. I sit back and watch her for a few minutes. It dawns on me that this is a "first" for her, watching this bee fly and flutter about. Her eyes are wide with amusement.
The bus arrives and I jump up to help Ryan get down the steps. Lilly comes up to greet him. Ryan smiles and gives her a brief hug at my urging, but then quickly runs to the front door. Now I have both children at home and as I look at my very long list my heart sinks just a bit as I realize it is going to be difficult to accomplish much more.
I decide to tackle mopping the floor. I put Lilly in her booster seat and give her a snack. I understand now that my first mistake was not getting my water and mop ready before I put her there. I wasted valuable time just preparing to mop. Time was ticking as soon as I buckled her in the seat. Her fuse is short and it isn't long, maybe five minutes before Lilly tired of Apple Jacks and sitting at the table. She starts whaling, screaming and pitching a tantrum to be let down. That's the thing with Lilly--there is no building up--she just lets go without any warning. I let her down and bless her heart she slips and falls on the wet floor. I pick her up, comfort her and debate for a second about what to do with the floor. I conclude that I have reached the point of no return. The floor has dirty, soapy areas on it. I have to finish it.
I hate it, but I decide to put a gate up and put Lilly in the den where Ryan is watching tv. I know the gate will only agitate her more. I know that she will stand at the gate or may even try to climb up it in an effort to get out. I know she's going to cry. I decide to move quickly. I mop up the dirty pools of water on the floor, I rinse the floor with clean water and because by now Lilly has moved on to harass Ryan I decide to spiff up the downstairs bathroom. I am not in the bathroom long when Lilly marches in crying. She must have squeezed through the banisters/railing that divides the kitchen from the den. She has poop running down her leg. Bless her heart again. Yeah, the floor is dirty, but first things first. I get her clean and even take her upstairs for a bath. I get a clean outfit and throw out the dirty one. Yes, in the trash, some things are not worth salvaging.
After all of this I still haven't accomplished much on my list. My frustration level is rising, but all is right in the world for Lilly. She is sitting on a ride-on toy that is backed up against the couch and close enough to Ryan that she can rest her head on his legs. I am amazed that Ryan isn't kicking her, but figure that somehow he must know that she needs to catch a break.
I now have to clean the poopy floor. This isn't the first time I've had to do this so I take it in stride, but as I take everything to rinse it out I hit a coffee cup sitting on the counter top with the mop handle sending day old coffee flying everywhere. It's on my shiny floor, the cabinets, the stove. Unbelievable. I now have a bigger mess than when I started cleaning. I leave it there and walk away. I take a break for 20 minutes or so. After I clean it up I decide that I am done for the afternoon. I mark one or two things off the list and announce to the kids that we are going outside.
Believe it or not, I could write a rendition of this story almost everyday. If it isn't coffee on the floor it's a cup of milk or ground in Pop Tart or something. It's always something.
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