Dog Water and Locked Doors: When Chaos Abounds

My life sometimes seems to be a comedy of errors--or maybe more like a series of errors.  :)  I'm positive my children save up their ill-behaved ways, coordinate with each other, then just decide to let loose with everything all on the same day.  I need to find their calendars so I can be ready for them next time!  I know they look like innocent little sweethearts, but trust me....  Looks can be deceiving!  I wonder if they worry my readers will be bored or start feeling sorry for themselves if I don't have a "let me make your life look better" story every now and then!  Charming, thoughtful children, aren't they?!  I wish there were some way I could tie it all together in the end with some sort of lesson and say, "This is how God spoke to me," but sometimes, it's just about telling a story that I find humorous. Of course, when I start typing, I intend to head in one direction while God sometimes takes me in another, so I never know how some of my postings will end.

When we woke up yesterday morning with Avery covered in some new sort of rash, I figured we were most likely headed down a curvy road.  Thankfully though, we managed to get through all of our errands without him chewing through a bag of Peanut M&Ms or disrobing and pointing out his nipples and other body parts in the middle of the store, then telling everyone that they have nipples too.  We made it through the grocery store without accosting the plastic Avery-sized display M&Ms and trying to carry them off, demanding to take one home.  We also made it through the pet store without him trying to catch fish this time (you know, I never noticed just how accessible those darn fish tanks are to toddlers!) and he was helpful in other stores.  The rash wasn't bothersome and he was just happy to be out.  He greeted everyone, had conversations with several people, kept track of my list for me and greedily shared my Starbucks!  We got through the day without having to bathe the cat or chase him through the neighborhood after a successful escape attempt.  Avery didn't attempt to water any plants for me, or try to mop the floors.  In all, it was a successful, relatively boring day.

Things went well until dinner time.  If you have a husband (or wife!) who commutes from the city, you know they usually run later on Friday nights.  Shawn's company introduced a new product this week, so between the issues arising from that, and Friday night traffic, he was running behind in getting home.  Why is that always when everything happens at once and things start falling apart?!  


I had just gotten the pizza dough started and was catching up with laundry while talking on the phone with my mom (Mistake #1!).  I returned to the kitchen to check on the dough--and caught Avery trying his best to be um, helpful.  He has recently decided it's his job to feed our dog.  Naturally, she's not complaining because he is constantly trying to feed that 4-legged walking stomach!  So, there was dog food on the floor, her dish was full to the brim, and whatever wasn't in the dish or on the floor was in her water bowl!  After trying to clean up what I could and let Gretta eat what I couldn't, I realized the water wasn't salvageable.  Now, we have 4 pets.  And they all need water.  So we don't have a regular old dish--oh, of course not!  We have a 5 gallon jug that is inserted upside down into a little fountain thingie. Yes, I carried that jug (in the bowl) across the house and outside so I could dump it.  Then had to clean it all up, carrying the jug back into the house and put it all back together.  And I'm proud to say I did it all without spilling a drop!  That may sound simple enough, but picture this:  Tripping over the 4 animals, 2 children and countless toys and items littering my path, struggling with the weight of the jug and bowl, trying to get out the door without letting the cats out and hoping Noah was paying attention as he held the door and was supposed to close it...  Sounds simple enough, but then, most things really do!


And just when I thought it was safe to sit down and take a breath....  Avery locked himself in his room.  I still haven't figured out how he managed it.  Shawn was still about an hour away from home, so I had two choices--break the door by throwing myself against it or taking the knob off while my toddler stood on the other side.  The funny thing?  He wasn't crying or fussing about being stuck!  He was laughing and singing!  I'm wondering if he thought it was great that Mommy couldn't get in his room?  I finally took the knob off and left the rest for Shawn to deal with.

I had to juggle a few other things while assembling the pizzas, but just the usual:  Keeping the elderly cat from dying (there's a story there, yes), keeping the boys from killing each other, keeping the dog out of our dinner, yada, yada, yada.

This is our life.  Crazy, chaotic and a little bit of wild.  But it's ours.

Oh, and when Shawn got home?  I went to bed.  Very early.