Why It Takes Me Longer To Accomplish ANYTHING

I love my kids.

Really, I do.

But I love them a lot more when they aren't under my feet when I'm trying to accomplish something.

I'm not talking about when I'm emailing, or talking on the phone, or putting on makeup.

I'm talking about making breakfast, loading the dishwasher, or folding clothes.

They just don't mix well.

For example...

When I'm trying to cook breakfast, Parker inevitably wants to come touch the stove knobs. 

I swear, the child doesn't even notice them ANY other time... only when I'm trying to cook.

Here he comes...

 First, he grabs the oven door handle (notice my leg starting to stick out to block him?)

 Then he goes for the gas stove knobs...while I attempt to swat his hand away.

 Which then leads to crying and wanting to be picked up. Which leads to tackling my legs "football style." 

(I have great balance these days by the way.)

 

 I get a short "reprieve" of blocking and swatting and balancing while we eat. 

Of course the eating portion of the meal involves cutting up food, feeding, picking up food/sippy cup/spoon/bib off of floor (repeatedly) and telling Payton to "please stop playing and eat your food."

Then we move on to loading the dishwasher.

As you can see, Parker has swiped his "dishwasher loading armor" (otherwise known as an oven mitt) off of the counter and is ready to "help" me load the dishes.

 First, he starts by throwing his sippy cup in...

 Stops to give the camera an innocent look...

"What? Me? I'm helping Mommy."

 Readjusts "Dishwasher Loading Armor"...

 Decides to pull out a dirty butter knife...

(I also have another "helper" in the kitchen now - see his feet?)

 Okay, I think I'll stop there before someone calls DCF on me for letting my kid play with knives.

Don't worry, I'm even faster when it comes to grabbing items out of his hand than I am at swatting, blocking & balancing.

Let's just say, a chore that might take the average person 5 minutes to do, takes me at least 10.

I love my kids...but I am really looking forward to this weekend when the KITCHEN IS CLOSED for Mother's Day. Is it weird to be looking forward to that???

So Fortunate

We are so fortunate.

I could give you a list of things going on in my life that are frustrating, confusing, painful, and upsetting.

But I could give you a much longer list of things in my life that are beautiful, happy, funny, incredibly fortunate blessings.

And why shouldn't we focus on those things, instead of the "unhappy" things?

It's a choice we face each and every day:

- Do we wallow in things that frustrate us; lose our temper when things don't go our way; and covet the things that we don't have?

OR...

- Do we look at the beauty in our lives? Like all of the amazing things God puts before us each day to remind us of His love? Or the simple things... like smiles from our children, a phone call from a good friend, a snuggle with our dog, a kiss from our spouse. There is good in every day. Sometimes you just have to look for it.

Here's something positive I am choosing to focus on:

My husband primarily works from home.

Yes, he has an office, and yes, he has lots of meetings all over town. But compared to a lot of other families, we get to see him a bit more.

There are a lot of pros and cons with a spouse working from home, but today, I'm focusing on one of the "pros." Like a few days ago, when instead of sitting in commuter traffic, he was blowing bubbles in the driveway at 7 a.m. with the baby.

What are you going to be grateful for today?