We are finally to the point where we don’t have to worry about what our children are doing every waking moment when we’re at home. Or so I thought…..
We had just finished our lasagna dinner and were all relaxing in the living room for a little while before the girls’ bedtime. I suddenly realized that I had sent Laura (the 3 and a half year old) to get a tissue 15 minutes ago and she had yet to return. It was time for Abigail and Hattie to get their pajamas on so I asked them to peek in on Laura and let me know what she was doing. Almost instantly I hear “MOMMY” echoing down the hallway followed by a cacophony of “lotion”, “wiping”, “floor”, “all over”….
Oh no. I headed down the hall. I’m not going to lie and say that I was running. I was a little hesitant to see what was going on. I knew she wasn’t hurt so it didn’t seem like I HAD to run, you know?
Before I even got there Laura was sobbing. “Sorry Mama. Sorry Mama. Sorry Mama.” She knew she had done something she wasn’t supposed to do. She KNEW.
At first sight, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Laura was shiny, pink and slick with lotion. She was frantically wiping her legs off with the bathmat. It wasn’t working. She stood up and slid around the floor until she fell. She wasn’t hurt but she was humiliated. I finally got her wiped off (do you know how l o n g that took?) and started to survey the damage. Not only was there was lotion ALL over Laura but it was also ALL over the bathroom floor, the floor in the hallway and the floor in Abigail and Hattie’s room. Luckily there was none on their new rug…that would have been different! All in all, this was harmless.
I get the feeling she won’t do this again. I didn’t even get the chance to fuss at her. She punished herself. I got her cleaned up and she put herself in time out and has been sticking her bottom lip out about 6 inches ever since. She’s been wandering around pouting, sighing and being clingy. Too funny.
I have been around the parenting pool long enough to know that too much silence is usually not a good thing. I guess I got too confident and thought we were past the minutia management. WRONG!
At least Laura is smooth as silk head to toe and the whole house smells good. It could have been SO much worse…..
