Lessons from a three year old.

A few mornings ago, Jon came out into the garage in his boxers to help me get the girls in the car. He was of course cold, so I yelled to him “Well, put some pants on you moron!” He quipped something back, we laughed, and I didn’t think twice about it. Then, a few moments later, as I was pulling out of the driveway, Sydney voiced her concern that went something like, that wasn’t nice, we don’t use naughty words, you just lost your mother-of-the-year-award. I tried to explain to her that I was just joking with daddy and I wasn’t really calling him names, but she wasn’t buying any of my BS. Name calling is name calling, weather you’re just joking or not. I regretted the choice of words and I was out of excuses, so finally I just said you're right, we shouldn’t use naughty words, I’m sorry.

And there’s the silver lining. There have been many similar incidents where, without thinking, in a moment of frustration or jest, my words, my tone, or my actions are something they shouldn’t be in front of my girls and Sydney is usually quick to call me on it. But, while I may sometimes fail in the watch-your-mouth parenting department, the flip side is that it’s given me the opportunity to show her the value in sometimes just humbly admitting, you’re right, I’m sorry.

I’m thankful for her reminders. She’s helping me learn to stop and think before reacting. Slowly, I’m learning.

Wise life lessons from a bossy three year old. Such is my life.

Apparently Sydney has hit the age where it's no longer satisfactory to just look at the camera and smile. It's now her goal to look as crazy as she possibly can. Goal achieved.

"Hey Sawyer, wanna play chase?" "Oh, you mean that thing you do, where you terrorize me with a doll stroller? Umm, let me think...No."

Along with cleaning up my mouth, I'm also working this year on cleaning up my house. (How's that for a transition! Boom!) The plan is to go room-by-room, drawer-by-drawer, cleaning, purging, and organizing. With the ultimate goal being to gain back a little bit of order and sanity in this crazy house. So far I've tackled the laundry room (if you can even call it that) and the main bathroom, and it is making me oh-so-happy!

Before:  
(I'm kind of embarrassed to show these. This is seriously what all of the drawers in our house look like. Now you see why some organization is so desperately needed!)

After:

Dude. The Bumpits. First question, why did I buy them? More importantly, why am I keeping them?? Does anyone other than the cast of Jersey Shore actually use these things?

I'll try to remember to post more pictures of the progress as I go.

[Insert second epic transition.]

Beginning plans are in the works for Lillian's birthday party. I cannot believe this first year is almost coming to a close! It went way too fast. I've been spending the last few days trying to burn every detail of her fleeting babyhood into my brain. Her crown of wispy, dark hair, they way she still curls her toes, her chubby legs, her gummy smile, I'm willing myself to lock it away somewhere safe, where I can pull it out again, years down the road, when I long for it again.

I'll leave you with this. A bad, blurry photo, yet one that's going down as an all-time favorite of mine!  

Perception vs. Reality:

Work it girl. You're a rock-star!