Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Crash Test Mommy

okay, who out there watches Crash Test Mommy? for those of you who don't its a show designed to let people know what motherhood is like. There is either a friend to the mom, a sister, cousin, sometimes even the husband, someone who thinks they can do her job better and is given 48 hours to prove that they can infact do her job with greater ease...they never can. I love watching it! There was one episode where the dad thought if he would be home the house would be cleaner, well he found out that it's not as easy as it sounds, he tried a simple task like vacuuming the livingroom, one he thought should take just a couple minutes but then he had his potty training toddler pee on the carpet so he had to clean that whole mess up and then he picked up the vaccum cleaner to give it another go and his baby boy pooped his diaper and while he was changing him on the couch some got on there and i think before he finished that "little 5 minute job" he had to go pick up his other kid from school. It's so funny that even a father would be oblivious to fact that you can't just do a job like that in peace when you have little kids and it does take a whole day of cleaning just to have the house look exactly the same as it did before they left for work. I know when I haul out the vaccum cleaner I have 2 little ones that always need to have a turn 'helping me' and then they all 3 love it when I 'suck them up' so I do their arms and cheeks and tummy, so doing the little carpet we have takes a lot longer then one may think. Or take for example the amount of time it took me to make a simple lunch today...I started at 11:00 with making some biscuts and within about a minute Lexi was in the kitchen wanting to help me so I gave her a very important job, to be in charge of the baking powder until I needed it and then she could help put the 4 tsp into the bowl, she was so happy and that made her feel so big. when they were on the baking sheet it was time to pack up the girls and take them to pick up Ryland from pre-school. When we got home Lexi went straight to her room because she was having one of her famous tantrums and I proceeded to the kitchen to make the soup, after that was started I went to check in on Lexi and she was hiding behind her door and thought it was so funny that i 'found her' since she was apparently hiding on me was laughing away so I said she could come out and she could play outside for a few minutes till lunch was all ready. By the time I was back in the kitchen which was hardly a minute and a half Sophia had already half emptied a cupboard all over the kitchen floor and was already at the patio door soaking wet after finding a water bottle that didn't have the lid on very tight and was now completly empty, so instead of just getting out bowls and plating up lunch I had to clean up Sophia, the wet floor and the scattered dishes she placed everywhere. After that I had her sitting at my feet and pulling on my pants and trying to pull herself up on my legs which makes it impossible for me to move so I then straped her into her highchair and gave her some finger foods to snack on till lunch was cooled off enough for her. I of course had a phone call from Ang and then my dad showed up wanting to pick up the farmer sausage he was storing in our freezer since last night. He was there at lunch so Robyn could help him but I found 2 spare minutes to load them up in his car before Robyn was back from school (my dad broke his foot so he needed some help). After that i called everyone to the table and we had an awesome lunch together. It lasted just a couple minutes before the kids hurried off and left me with a huge mess, but it was so awesome to be able to have that lunch with them, i enjoy it so much. The bonus today was that Lexi didn't have to go to the bathroom the second she sat down! I am not one little bit complaining here, I LOVE that Jordan's job allows me to be a mommy who is able to stay at home and I had an awesome day today with my little ones it's just funny that people without kids think that moms can just make lunch and do things around the house in the same amount of time it takes them and that is so not true. After Ryland and Lexi ran off from the table today Robyn asked me what was wrong twice and said that I looked like I was mad and I said both times absolutely not, I'm having a great day today and I told her all the good things that had

happened so far but the second time she asked me I just said no i'm just tired from today and making lunch was such a long process but i really am having a really good day today with the kids. And really I was in a good mood i was just thinking of how long that would have taken me to make lunch if I could have 'just made lunch' but in the world' of motherhood you can't 'just make lunch' or 'just vaccum' there is always someone that will need your attention in those moments and I was just thinking to myself while trying to get lunch ready how funny this is that I am constantly getting inturrupted and then the show Crash Test Mommy came to my mind so i thought i should blog it!

3 comments:

andrea said...

your post came at a very fitting time. i'm trying to pack for this weekend right now. each time a put something in the suitcase...something is oddly disappearing and resurfacing in another room. It's kind of funny yet frustrating cuz i just want to get this done before naptime is over and then i have two 'helpers'. i could just picture your lunch as you were describing it. your kids are happy, healthy and absolutely adore you which makes you their biggest fan ( when daddy's not around)! but that's a another story... have a great day, just loving your kids.

Larissa said...

You mean, I'm not the only person in the world with a life like that?! Funny, because I thought I was!!! Ha ha. This post is awesome, Jodi, for real!
So, I fractured my leg when E was 11 months old, I had to be on crutches for just over a month (well, that's what he said anyway, not quite what happened!) And my Dr actually told me "It's a good thing you stay home so you can take it easy." I just about laughed in his face, going to a job every day would actually allow me to take it MUCH more easy than staying home as a mom, and any stay home mom knows!!
I can't wait to read this blog to Ben when he gets home!! :)

JK said...

I loved reading this. It's good to know that all stay home moms pretty much go through the same thing! I'm glad you can have a good time through it all.
Ang...not James