Clean Up

There is one night during the week that we make an appoint to run through the house and do a quick clean, trying to put everything back in its place and straighten up.  That night is…the night before whatever day the therapist is coming!  Sad, but true!  I hate having guests come over to any kind of mess.  This “clean sweep” used to go so easy and smooth.  We would put Ryder in his bouncy or walker to occupy himself, and off we would go, on a mission.  Now that he is mobile…that task seems impossible!  So much so that I have given up temporarily to blog about it.  Anything, but go back to fighting this 1 yr old to leave things where I put them.  If I put his books on his bookshelf, he is one step behind me ripping them all off (the 3 I put back, plus 10 more), as soon as I pick up all of his blocks and put them into a container, I walk away to hear the sound of them dumping back out behind me, dishes are not staying in the dishwasher, nor in the cabinets…and so on…and so forth.  This little guy is becoming quite mischievous, which earned him his very first spank pat on the butt today!  After telling him 14 times to stop putting his hand in the dogs water (gross, right?!) he looked at me and intentionally swished his hand right back in there as if to say “why mom? Watcha gonna do about it??”  So came the moment I had to decide to not let him win, he got the point, and he got his feelings hurt.  I decided to take a break from cleaning, because it was becoming obvious that he was acting out in desperate need of my full attention.  We went out to the porch and shared a popsicle…which of course healed all wounds and we are back to loving each other again. How can you be mad at a face that has blue popsicle dripping down its chin?! 

***Update: The house is clean, we’re all alive, and ready for therapy!***