Life Doesn’t Have to be a Load of Laundry

As I stood above a pile of freshly cleaned laundry; I pondered.

Clothes get dirty, go through the wash, spin cycle, tossed around in the drier to come out to be piled up to be put away. With this same process repeating within a few days. Thoughts as simple as how much time do I spend in a week, month or year merely completing this remedial task some of us call laundry. I think that if I took the time to really track it; I would probably be depressed by the amount of time dedicated to this simple task. Looking to the positive; I personally use this chore as one of many means to interact with my daughter. I let her help me with each step in the process and she is affirmed that she is a big helper.

Following the trail of another thought lead me to think about my life and some of those around me. Allowing ourselves to repeat the same patterns over and over. Momentarily come to a form of self realization and feel good about a personal discovery often times to then allow ourselves to be burdened by the very same issue yet again wether it be days, weeks or even months later. I personally want out of the spin cycle. Of course we all need to come out of the closet and allow ourselves to get dirty in this illusion we call life, but is there a benefit to blindly repeating the same mis guided patterns over and over. I think not. A friend of mine shared her belief that we all have specific lessons that we are each here to learn and we will keep repeating those same issues until we get it right. It could be different situations with different people, but the same under lying challenge that we have to surmount.

So I guess the question to ask; am I ready to get out of the spin cycle and if not why?

Unexpected Toothpaste

Our daughter is potty training. For those who are starting or about to start this process; in our household we would highly recommend “Bear and the Big Blue House.” This simple video from The Jim Henson Company has propelled this concept much faster than I think we could have on our own.

This afternoon was a misadventure worth noting. Miss Heather desired to sit on the potty. I left the bathroom and soon heard her calling me that she had a big poop. I come to find she had gotten up from the potty seat and had accidentally pooped on the floor of the bathroom. I cleaned it and her up and encouraged her to stay on the potty next time until finished all the while ensuring she knew that I was not upset about the mess. We left the room and continued with our day.

Later, I came into the bathroom where moments earlier I noticed her playing with her tooth brush that had been carelessly left out from earlier in the day. She was washing her hands and I looked at the tooth brush that was now sitting on the bathroom counter to discover a brown smear on it. She then informs me that she was helping clean. Which left me pondering; where did this come from. I think I figured it out, or at least I hope I did. At the time of the original incident I failed to look closely at the potty seat itself, and I suspect that perhaps there was a smear of pop that I missed when whipping it down. Part of me is embarrassed to admit that I missed cleaning up pop, but the reality is that no harm was done and I am sure I would have noticed it before too long as I clean the bathrooms regularly.

Oh and yes I got a new tooth brush for her.

Target and the Big Pink Dog

Recently my husband and I decided to check out some of the various stores for a Halloween costume for our daughter. Not entirely convinced that we should partake in the annual costume as she is 2 1/2 and we really don’t need to have that much candy in the house.

One of the places we stopped was Target. Looking for where the costumes were displayed we passed by the toy section. We paused there allowing our daughter to admire the many items on the shelves and letting her play while my husband and I watched her careful curiosity.

One such item that she discovered was a large pink stuffed dog. She patted it’s head and told it “Good boy,” much like our black lab at home. When it was time for us to leave; in typically two year old styling she wanted nothing to do with that; she wanted to stay and play. I don’t blame her; as parents we made the rookie mistake of allowing it to go on. My husband trying to be clever and kind told her that if she wanted to keep the dog she would have to carry it by herself through the store; not thinking of course that she would be able to.

With the determination of an Olympian she hoisted the large pink dog over her shoulder and started walking. Stopping occasionally to re-position.

She did it! She carried the dog bigger than her through the entire store (Toy department is on the far end).

Needless to say; never under estimate a child.