Toddler Mess
“WHERE DID YOU GET THAT??!!”
I run to her in a panic as she stumbles into the living room with a GLASS vase. Her sweetest, innocent little walk with a face filled with pride. She won the grand prize: mom’s glass vase half her size. As you can image, my mind already went into the scene of broken glass and cut up feet on our way to the hospital as I win my grand prize: trophy for worse mother. Snapping back to reality, the vase is now safely placed on the high part of the counter. Till this day, I have no idea where she got it from. The pantry? The cabinet? I have no clue.
There is no such thing as a mess like a toddler mess. There little goblin hands collect the randomness things and find a gathering spot. The pile grows alike to their curiosity and suddenly you are tripping over an inventory of toys, laundry, empty water bottles, stuff animals, and a costume sword?… I genuinely remember hiding that one away, and yet, she still found it.
One time while cooking dinner, our girl had just learned to walk. Now, granted, this is my first born, and to my surprise, toddlers are quick little things. Cooking turned quickly turned into a battle of negotiations and redirection. In a spam of five minutes, every cabinet is open, and I am dodging pot lids and pans on the floor as I stir food. I panic reach to the cabinet of cleaners and redirected her to her toys which were no longer of interest to her, the Clorox was.
When the kitchen floor was now in disarray with pots, pans, and hand towels, she went onto her next project: mom’s sock drawer. Cooking was finally complete when I suddenly reailize how quiet it was. I run around calling her name to finally find half of her body deep in my dresser and taking all my socks. Not only has she found my socks, but she also discovered how to unfold every…. single…. one of them. I accepted defeat and rallied the children to eat dinner. It’s been 6 months and there are socks I still cannot find the match for.
In all honesty, it does get to me sometimes. I always felt I thrived in a cleaned, organized space. I would deep clean my place every Thursday, and with a finish touch: a lit candle. That night, I would be curled on the couch overlooking the freshness of a clean home with a hot cup of coffee.
Though the mess sometimes does get to me, and it feels as though I am mopping in the rain, I invite it. It makes the space feel it’s been lived in. With months of learning to cope and accept it, I began to feel more at peace with it. I found ways to change my mindset. Instead of thinking the place looks like a pig’s den, I look at the scattered books, blocks under the kitchen table, and unfinished puzzles, and I start to think about our girls got to play and fully be content in our home. I think that is the most important part.