The Daily Funnies

Today has been one of those funny days. Quite the relief after the busyness of yesterday. I have decided to try to surprise James again and paint our bedroom while he is gone. He comes back tomorrow, so I'm not sure exactly what state things will be in when he returns. I have a bad feeling about this... =) Can't be any worse than last time...

Anyway, I decided to pick up the paint for the walls after picking Trevy up from school. We had a couple of other errands to run and it's easier and more fuel efficient to time things when I'm out anyway. As we were heading to Home Depot, Callie told me that her imaginary friend, Anna (or Alla, it changes), has an ice cream patch. I asked her if it was like a pumpkin patch. Yes, and we can go visit and pick ice cream! Mmmm...I wish!

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At dinnertime, the kids ended up having to get their own plates. (I am working on instilling responsibility and a work ethic in my kids, but that needs at least 5 other posts.) No one had cleared their lunch plate and, I figured, since I had asked Trevy twice to set the table and she kept finding other things to do, I could throw her into the learning mix, as she eats lunch at school. So I only set one plate for myself. We were having burritos, for heaven's sake! Not like we needed the full ensemble! As we were eating, Trevy randomly threw out, "You're mean." So I asked her why I was mean. "We had to get our own plates and spread our own beans" So sorry, Your Highness. My first instinct was to launch into a great monologue on what a real mean mom is. Instead, I tried to think Lovingly and Logically and came up with, "I think you're pretty lucky to have a mom who wants to teach you and trusts you to do things for yourself."  She had no comeback. =)

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The boys finished up eating first. At one point, I was watching Timmy playing on the back porch and saw him stop, take the stance and make "the face". Alas, I was also nursing Wyatt or would have carpéd the moment right then. The deed was pretty much finished before I could get myself into a position to run Timmy into the bathroom. However, all I had to do was promise him an M&M and he was off. He got just the smallest bit of urine in the toilet.  Hey, I'll take it!  He got his M&M and I told him he could have an M&M every time he peed in the potty.  Two for poop!  He ran back to the bathroom and kept sitting and standing.  At one point while sitting and trying so hard to earn another M&M he told me, "It's not working!"

(I haven't forced the issue much because he has fought so hard when I've tried.  I'm hoping he will just copy Landon, who also fought like his life depended on it.  Until he realized that dry underwear is so much more comfortable than wet diapers and then potty-trained himself in one day. But if M&Ms work the miracle, I'm all for that as well!)