Friday, May 21, 2010

Mess Maker, Mess Maker, Make Me A Mess . . . .

(That title was written to the tune of the Match Maker song from Fiddler on the Roof--just so ya know.)


I've been pondering lately about this little dance that exists between my 16 month old and me. It goes something like this:

I gather all the toys, shoes, clothes and such and put them in their proper homes. I go to the kitchen to unload the dishwasher. When I return to the living room, I find new toys strewn about. They are not in use at the moment because the toddler who pulled them all out has apparently seen something shiny and fun in the other room and moved on to bigger and better things. So I again pick up the toys and throw them in their basket home.

I head to the kitchen to find that a cabinet door has been opened and I now have Tupperware all over the floor. I finish placing everything back in the cabinet (that was supposed to be locked--oops!) and head back to the living room where my 3 year old has removed her shoes and socks and left them on the floor. She is old enough to pick them up and put them where they belong on her own so I go in search of her to let her know just that.

On my way, I see that the 16 month old has now found the computer desk and is scattering the bills from the "pay these today" pile all over the floor while the 3 year old watches. I send the 3 year old to the living room to pick up the abandoned shoes and socks and pick up the bills and re-stack them by the computer.

I head into the kitchen to prepare lunch for the girls. Once finished, I go to the living room to find another slew of toys sprinkled all about the area rug.

At this point I begin to wonder who is more frustrated here. Clearly, I am frustrated by the constant mess and walking hazards (have you ever stepped on a hard plastic toy in bare feet? OUCH!) But I wonder what Sarah is thinking. If I could peek inside her baby brain, she might be thinking, "Mom, I JUST put all those toys out on the floor. I can't believe you are going to make me scatter them again!"

We stare at each other thinking the same exact phrase with two distinct meanings, "Can you just leave the toys where they belong?!?!"

3 comments:

Pigs said...

Just hang on a few more months! Parker learned to play the "Clean Up Game" around 18 months with Tyler's help. I never made Tyler pick up that young because I didn't know they could? THEY CAN! Now I make them pick it all up before we move on to something they want. It's kind of awesome because Tyler will browbeat Parker to make him help and I can get stuff done. Two more months!!

Tammy said...

LOL!! Sounds about right. This is my house too! What works for me is when I put on a timer and we all race to beat the timer picking up all the toys and placing them in their homes!! Don't know if girls will like this, but boys do! :) Mommy, this is what we do... we pick up... all day long.

momimi said...

All this from the one who inspired me to hang the sign, "AIMEE-ZON JUNGLE" on her bedroom door. Hmmmm....