Why is it…WHY is it that when you need to be piling into a car to get somewhere, that’s when your kiddles decide that a mini-disaster is perfect for that moment.  It never fails.  Okay, maybe sometimes it does fail and we actually get into the car and head to our destination on time.  However, it feels like it never fails.  Today was one of those days…again.

Grace was already dragging her feet to get ready to go to school because she had to play with her cars and princesses first.  She was getting ready, but snuck out of her room.  As she raced past my door and grabbed a towel the situation was clear enough to me that I actually debated whether or not I wanted to follow her and see what had transpired in the 4 minutes since I had her getting dressed in her room.  Yeah, Momma was checking an email that had to be responded to…not going to do that again before taking Grace to school.   Apparently she & Rose decided that they needed to make strawberry & chocolate milk for themselves before leaving for school.  These two little “dahlings” got into the fridge, pulled out their milk (lactose free), the bottle of Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Syrup and Nestle’s Strawberry Syrup.

Two glasses, two syrups, two spoons, two milk pours, two stir sessions…a minimum of 6 opportunities to spill something just in the process of making the flavored milk.  And Rose didn’t fail to step right into that opportunity.  Strawberry milk all over the counter, down the wall, onto the floor and soaked into the carpet runner.  At least I can say that she didn’t put all of the strawberry syrup into her glass. Now for Rose, being only 3 years old, she’s getting a little bit of leeway.  No more strawberry milk for one week…and no more opening up the fridge without Momma or Daddy there with her.  She wants her independence so badly that I almost have to race her before she starts pouring milk into her cereal each morning, but I’m hoping that she’s getting the message after today.

With Grace, it’s a whole other story…her little glass was 3/4 full of chocolate syrup and only 1/4 of milk.  Can we say completely out of balance?! 
“Momma, but I like it!  It tastes so good.” 
Yeah, that was all that I got from Grace when I asked her why she poured 2/3 of the bottle of chocolate syrup into her glass and only a tiny bit of milk.  Now I hate waisting food…and when it involves chocolate, dark chocolate…I was trying to think of any way that I could salvage it.  I just had to face the fact that there was no way that anyone was going to want any portion of that chocolate syrup.  And I told her that since she wasted approximately 20 glasses of chocolate milk, there were going to be 20 days without chocolate milk…so down the sink it had to go.  Everything in my being was screaming that dramatic “NO!” that you see in the movies with the outstretched arm and despair painted expression.  But at least she’s realized that she can’t be wasteful like that…at least she reminded my repeatedly during the day that she could have milk, but not chocolate milk for a long time.

If I were to say that I wasn’t too upset would be a complete and utter lie.  I was livid that once again they had managed to create a mess that would take at least another 15 minutes of clean-up time when we needed to be out the door.  At least I took the time to do some counting and breathing…size up the damage and calmly talk to each of them.  That’s a huge step for me to not just completely freak-out.  I kept telling myself, “It’s only preschool, so she can miss today.  She needs to know that when she doesn’t do what she’s supposed to do then there are things that just don’t happen the way they should.”  Not being able to go to school is a huge upset for Grace.  She loves school almost as much as she loves chocolate frozen yogurt.  (and that’s ALOT)

“I have to go to school Momma.  I want to GO!  There’s no school for me now.”  Hubungous…not humongous, but hubungous (which is a Tanya-ism as Charming would say) tears flowed from her eyes, down her little cheeks and all over her tee-shirt.  Oh I wanted to take her anyway, but I knew that I needed to make her understand that because of what she chose to do, we weren’t going to be able to make it to a place that she really wanted to be at.  (this has been a lesson that I have been trying to teach her for the past 2 months, so hopefully she’s got it now)

“Tomorrow I can try again and not forget to get dressed for school.  Okay Momma?”
“Okay baby.  We will try again tomorrow and do better so that you can go to school.”

Momma, if you read this, I now know exactly how you felt all the time…I’m so sorry!  Oh well, tomorrow will tell if they both remember what they can and can’t do.  I’m thinking that the events of today are going to be long forgotten.  Which means that I am in for a lot of tears and begging for chocolate and strawberry milk.  What do you think?  In the meantime though, I know that I am getting closer to being the mom that I’ve always wanted to be…and remembering what it was like for me when I was 5 & 3 years old.  (and trying to find some humor in it all)