To-do lists

Nice Jack!

Every morning Chad asks me the same question. "What's on your schedule for the day"? Kind of a funny question to ask a stay at home mom, not a lot of variance day to day, but really sweet nevertheless. I thought it might be fun to show you what my "to-do list" looked like today.

1. Clean up the kitchen
   
2. Clean the bathroom again (thanks to Jack's continued exploration of life as a plumber)
   
3. Do some laundry
   
4. Make bread
   
5. Do something fun with the kids
6. Have a migraine (didn't actually plan on this one, it was a mid-morning surprise)
   

Fairly boring right? And I didn't even check off most of the things on my list...except the last one. Don't worry, apparently I am not the only person who had a "to-do list" for the day.

Marian's "to-do list"

1. Cry when I lose visual contact with mom: check
   
2. Make repeated non verbal demands for granola bars and fruit snacks (it's amazing really): check
   
3. Cry to have my coat put on, then immediately cry to have it taken off 20 times: check
   
4. Only eat AFTER I get taken out of the high chair: check
   
5. Experiment with utensils without allowing mom to interfere at all, no matter how messy it gets: check
   

Jack's "to-do list" was even better.

1. Hide a smashed banana in the closet: check
   
2. Throw my cup of milk and Marian's bottle out the front door just for laughs: check
   
3. Knock Marian over: check, check, check, check......
4. Shove my puzzle pieces under the fridge: check
5. Wipe my runny nose on mom's pants while she's changing Marian's 5th poopy diaper: check
6. Pee just a little in my pants 4 times. A small enough amount that mom doesn't think it warrants a "pee-bath i.e. cold bath" but enough that I get to change my underwear 4 times. CHECK
   
7. Hide my underwear in the oven: check (the nature of the underwear's cleanliness at the time of entry into the oven appears to have been clean...THANK GOODNESS!)
   
8. Hide mom's phone behind the desk. check
9. Run the dishwasher...just for fun: check.
10. Pee all over mom's bathroom: check (that one wasn't actually his fault, I'll spare you the details.)
11. Throw sock on the griddle while mom makes a last minute "breakfast for dinner" after the planned dinner didn't turn out. check
    

As you can see, it was quite the day. As I read over these lists it really looks like I need some new parenting skills. I'm actually reading (and taking notes on) a parenting book called "Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood". I've gotta tell you, I'm doing what it says, and I am NOT feeling the magic.

Just to be clear, I'm super in love with my kids. They do the sweetest things every day and are the joy of my life. I wouldn't change one thing. I'm building some serious character and patience skills right? I don't think that they are unusually difficult or mischievous...most days, and I promise my next post will be filled with me gloating about their sweetness. But not tonight.