Toddler-isms

I never thought that life would be particularly clean living with a toddler. And to be honest, until Today toddlerhood has exceeded my expectations, as Toby is generally a very good boy. But when he does it up, he Really Does It Up.

This afternoon I decided to make a lasagna for dinner. Normally, the kitchen is off-limits to those under 63 inches, baby gated and all. It's just easier for me to keep little ones Out from under my feet while I cook and mess with the hot oven and stove. Today, however, I was feeling magnamanious and thought that since lasagna is a relatively easy meal , perhaps Toby could help me. Luci was down for nap and Curtis could have some "me" time with his football team and the tv while Toby and I worked on dinner.

For a bit all was well. Toby sat on the floor and ate his snack, then played with a bowl and wooden spoon...which turned to smashing goldfish crackers on the floor, but I stopped that pretty quick. Small mess, and the floor needed a good mopping anyway, so I figured once we were done I would commence the cleaning.

Then he noticed the soda cans. Earlier I was tidying up and noticed one box of soda had only 3 cans left, so I stacked them on the windowsill and trashed the box. Enchanted with the idea of lining up soda cans on the windowsill, he started opening other boxes of soda to get more cans (before you think that we consume soda by the gallon, let me clarify that my grocery store puts soda on sale buy 2 get 3 free, and they just had one of those sales a week ago so I had stocked up). Pretty soon soda was stacked three tall all along the window sill. Sensing a potential disaster, I told him he could stack the soda on the floor, but the window was probably not the best idea. I showed him what I meant, then went on to other tasks (like layering my lasagna).

It wasn't long after this that Toby was distracted by something else and wanted to play in the living room, so I let him out of the kitchen while the lasagna baked and I tidyed up. Soon it was time to set the table though and I let him back in to help.

The cans (still in the window because he'd been distacted mid-moving them) were like a magnet. I turned around just in time to see a stack fall (onto his toe I might add), and then....oh then....the soda started spewing. Literally spewing all over the floor, the wall, the window, my son, my own legs. I grab the can and head for the sink. Curtis hears the commotions and yells for Toby to go to his room; I start yelling, no he can't leave (he's covered in soda!), and at this point Toby loses it and starts bawling.

I check his toe (it was fine, I don't think it ever hurt), strip him down and heads with Dad to the bathroom for the wipe down. I turn around and survey the damage. Coke is dripping down the wall, puddling on the floor, and decorating my white cabinets. Oh, did I mention the timer is also going off, as the lasagna is Done, and ready to eat?

So I get most the soda cleaned up, and mop the floor, wipe down the walls. Turn around and notive a secondary spew across the refrigerator and cabinets by the stove. Then in wiping down the soda cans remaining on the sill, I knock ANOTHER one off and of course, it starts spewing (Squirt, this time).

By this time I can see the humor in the situation, but I really want to eat dinner! I get as much cleaned up as I can, and we eat (the lasagna was delicious, by the way!)

After dinner I mopped twice more, and it STILL feels sticky to me. But at this point I can't tell if it's just my feet or what, so I'm leaving it until the kids are in bed. The floor hasn't been this clean in a long time! (At least not mopped three times in less than an hour. All in all, it could have been much worse.

Anyway, I thought I'd share...my life, for your amusement!