Believe me, the days are few and far between when everyone in our house wakes up in a cheery mood.
Addyson (my four year old) is usually a very sweet morning girl. She'll be in that blissful, half awake/half asleep kind of stupor that makes you just want to scoop her up and hug her because she's so darn cute. It's also about the only time of the day she'll sit still to snuggle with you too, so it's a very special time of day.
She must get this morning sweetness from my husband because mornings are definitely not my cup of tea! I mean, if I can wake up at my own leisurely pace and enjoy a cup of coffee and some quiet time, then I'm happy as a lark. But, that doesn't seem to be the way it works around my house with all these kids...so...
The two-year-olds on the other hand? Well, like Forest Gump says, they’re like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re going to get!
Try as I may, I can’t quite seem to get the right formula for CONSISTENTLY getting them both out of bed and dressed and still smiling as we head down the steps for breakfast. I mean seriously, how horrible could life be for a two-year-old? What in the world would they want to whine about just a mere 15 minutes after getting out of bed?? I could tell you what they whine about, if you really want to know – but again, it’s not CONSISTENTLY the same thing. If it was, I’d (of course!) try to mitigate it. But that would be waaaaaay to easy. Nope, it’s always something new…but, that’s for a different blog. This blog is about The Day The Whole House Smiled (TDTWHS).
Friday was The Day The Whole House Smiled (TDTWHS).
Addyson was ready for preschool with five minutes to spare. Willow and Noah were up, dressed and had eaten breakfast without a whine, cry or yell to be heard of. In fact, they sat at the table and laughed at each other’s silliness. They were seriously cracking each other up! I giggled at their two-year-old attempts to make the other one laugh – things like putting the cup of milk to their mouth and holding it in their teeth while waving both hands in the air as if to say “Look! No hands!” (This will get a giggle EVERY time, usually right before mom has to race over to wipe up spilled milk…)
I thought things in the house were a little odd, but figured I better just enjoy it while it lasts, knowing getting them all packed into the car is a sure bet for at least one fit.
But TDTWHS (The Day The Whole House Smiled), all three of the kids went to the car when they were asked…no kicking, screaming, running or meltdowns. Huh??
Before I questioned what in the world was going on, the voice in my head told me to enjoy it while it lasts! So we played and giggled and sang songs in the car. The kids told Addyson bye as she skipped up to the doors of preschool, then they giggled and played back and forth with each other in the backseat while we made our way to Walmart.
Sidenote: I really pretty much hate my weekly run to Walmart. I’ve got the two two-year-olds, I’m pushing one cart and pulling the other, I’m lugging a bunch of ads with me to buy the items they’ll “pricematch”. It's kind of like a game show challenge to see if you can fill the cart with great deals while navigating two full shopping carts, answering the "what's that?!" questions, and trying to diffuse upcoming and almost inevitable chaos.
So off we go to shop, shop, shop. I'm talking to the kids about getting "big boy/big girl cups" for the kitchen (these would be small tumblers with no lids for those of you without toddlers in the house...) and they are soooooo excited to be eyeing the shelves in Walmart looking for new cups.
While making our way down the housewares isle, I hear a pleasant and almost excited hello ahead of me. I look up to find a cheery woman introducing herself and telling me she remembers those days. I laugh with her but try to keep moving, on our mission to find "big boy/big girl cups" before the cheerfulness of the day wears off. She proceeds to tell me she has triplets. YIKES!! They are 12 now, but she explains how she would push a double stroller and a cart on her shopping trips. Hmph. And here I was thinking two was a challenge at Walmart! As if she read on my face the need for a little encouragement, she told me to hang in there, her life with her kids is wonderful, yada, yada, yada. I appreciated her words, and it was nice to be reminded that yes, it could be more challenging than just two two-year-olds, but seriously, it was TDTWHS (The Day the Whole House Smiled). I didn't need encouragement today - we were having fun! - and I needed to move on and get outta there before chaos erupted. So, I thanked her and we smiled and off we went.
Needless to say, Walmart didn't have any big boy/big girl cups that suited me. Hold on tight, this is where TDTWHS goes right down the drain...
My blue eyed baby boy is usually pretty easy to reason with. I mean, he IS two, and he's NOT an angel, but his tantrums are few and far between. What I learned on TDTWHS is that you don't mess with that boy's big boy cup!! He is so proud to drink from a big boy cup that if you hand him a sippy cup, he just about throws a fit! So, Noah had his heart set on getting a new big boy cup, and when I told him Walmart didn't have any, the waterworks began. I walked as quickly as I could down the main isle at Walmart, racing to the checkout and trying to reason with him the whole time.
We'll look again next time...we'll try another store...we have big boy cups at home we can use...
Reason as I could, he wasn't buying any of it. By the time we reached the checkout line, he was in an all out screaming tantrum. "Big Boy Cup!!! Big Boy Cup!!! I NEEEEEEED my big boy cup!!!" he wailed as I fumbled for my credit card, then keys and helped the clerk bag my things so we could get out as quickly as possible. Luckily, Willow sat there quietly in baffled amazement and watched her brother meltdown right before her eyes.
He screamed the whole way out to the car.
It didn't take long to settle everyone down and start the short trek home. On our way, I was mentally reviewing our morning in my head. What a treat it was! The silliness, the giggling, the love. My heart overflowed! And, I recalled the words of encouragement the mother of the triplets had for me. You know, those words I felt I didn't need to hear because at the time I met her I was on top of the world - it was The Day The Whole House Smiled after all!
Luckily I've learned to soak up encouraging words like those as if I were equipped with a mommy solar panel. That way, when TDTWHS goes right down the tubes, it's easier than ever to pick myself up, dust myself off and forge ahead. After all, with faces like these three, who knows what the afternoon could bring!
