So I made some homemade play-doh and let him loose with that and the cookie cutters. Although his favorite was the cookie pan from last year. I kid you not this kept him busy and (relatively) quiet for a few hours! The next day we did the same thing. My once pretty red and green (festive, of course) play-doh is now a nasty shade of brown but hey- he had fun! Now if only H could've joined in the fun. But the babe cannot be trusted with the stuff.
I wrote a post recently that spawned from a rather busy day I had. It was a Monday. I use Monday's to get everything done I wasn't able to over the long weekend with everyone home. That particular Monday, I got so busy I kept spouting out excuses of why I couldn't play. I kept promising I would, then I would remember something else I wanted/needed to do. I knew it wasn't my best day as a mom- I focused a lot on me and my chores...but what I didn't realize until I was cleaning up dinner dishes was how much it meant to Brody. How much he wanted some of my time.
He excitedly called out, "MOM! I finished ALL my vegetables!" I turned around at the sink to say "GOOD JOB Brody!" as he walked to the bathroom to get his hands washed. That's when he got a sad face, started crying, and sadly said to dad.. "Mommy didn't play with me!"
It broke my heart. That one day was wasted. I made excuses and focused on me and what I had to do. I told my mom on our Thanksgiving trip to visit them, "I could really just clean for the rest of my life until I die and not take a break! There's SO much to do! And imagine when I have more kids- more messes...I literally can miss my children growing up- I could miss everything!" That's when my mom recited this. It was perfect- as if it came from me because it was exactly how I felt. I'm done caring so much about every little crumb on the kitchen floor or every piece of unwashed clothes. LIFE isn't about being 100% tidy. If I'm spending the bulk of my time with my kids, I'm fulfilled. So yes, I put the dishes off that day and spent it with my family. I need to do more of that.
Speaking of that poem, there's a poetry contest going on (fiction and essay too); that I was asked to spread the word about. Go here to read more (deadline is December 31st).