May 30 2007
Acceptance, Soap, and Thuds
Oh, the crazy “mommy moments” just keep happening around here. While I don’t post about them too often, rest assured that they make up the majority of my life. And, after all, I WAS nominated as the hottest Mommy Blogger. (What’s that? You haven’t voted yet? Well, here. I’ll make it easy for you. Click here.) So I guess from time to time I need to prove my Momminess. Right now, I will highlight 3 moments from yesterday.
1. I put my happy cherubic little baby on the floor upstairs so that he could roll around and scoot to his little heart’s content. Then I ran downstairs to grab something, and in the meantime I heard, “*shuffle-shuffle*scoot-scoot*THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD*splat*WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH*” In zero seconds flat, he’d managed to make it to the other side of the room and fling himself down the stairs, causing me to feel like the world’s best mom. He wasn’t terribly hurt, besides a little bruise on the head, but it scared us both real good. “I only left him alone for a SECOND.” “Yeah, yeah, lady. We’ve heard that one before. You’re gonna have to come with us, now. And we’re giving your children to the nice lady down the street with all the cats.” You KNOW that’s what’s gonna happen one of these days.
2. Once the littlest boys were in bed for their naps, Bubba and Fluffy went upstairs to play while I, well, blogged. After a little while, I heard strange noises in the bathroom so I went to check it out. I found Fluffy, in the bottom half of her swimsuit, and Bubba, completely naked, in the bathtub, which they had filled and dumped all the shampoo into (besides the shampoo that was dumped all over the floor in the process, of course) obviously hoping for bubbles, but instead getting just icky water. And then… I heard extra giggling. Who else was giggling? Upon closer examination, I found the NEIGHBOR GIRL hiding behind the shower curtain, wearing a swimsuit, as though she’d been planning all along to come on over and jump in our bathtub. I DID NOT KNOW THAT THE NEIGHBOR GIRL HAD COME OVER AT ALL. Rather than throttling them all, which is what I was initially tempted to do, I handled it with great dignity, fetching Blake’s swimsuit and the rest of Madeleine’s and telling them DON’T SPLASH. Am I cool, or what?
3. Since my little princess is about to start Kindergarten, I’d really hoped to get Madeleine into a charter school rather than the regular nastiness that is the public school system, so I applied her to all of them that I could think of, but all of my attempts had been thwarted. Kindergarten is the hardest year to get a kid into a decent school–all the spots fill up SO quickly. I’d resigned myself to Public School. But LAST NIGHT! An email came from the charter school in the town we’re moving to in a couple of weeks–I don’t even remember applying to this school, because we never expected to move to this particular city! Anyway, they had ONE POSITION open up and her name was drawn! I had until 10:00 p.m. (less than four hours from when the email was sent–good thing I have no life and happened to be online!) to respond and accept the position or it would be given to someone else. I’m SO EXCITED! See, if this email had come just a week ago, I would have thrown it away, because there was NO WAY we were moving to that city, therefore the slot would have been wasted on us. So the announcement came at just the absolute perfect moment! It just feels like another concrete sign that we made the right decision. Yeay!
Okay, am I enough of a mommy-blogger for you now? Hey, did you vote yet? 
well, with four kids, if you can limit it to only ONE near-death-experience per day, you’re doing very well!
And you NEED time to blog so swimming in the bath sounds good to me… whatever keeps em occupied!
Ah, you know I adore your momminess.
Love the stories today. I can just picture the fun. And the terror.
Next time the kids are in suits and the bathtub, give them a couple of cans of shaving cream! Oh, the joy. They will think you are truly the hippest, hottest Mama in all the world. (not just the blogging world)
Yahoo, for Kindergarten. Very happy for you. Right decision indeed.
Ah… the first child going to kindergarten is truly one of mommy life’s greatest moments! Don’t forget a major supply of kleenex (for mommy).
Congrats on your kindergarten acceptance! We had a similar experience with our oldest child back when we lived in Manhattan.
As far as the other two moments go? Totally been there, done that.
Yeah, because you need other people’s kids to come over and influence your own right???
hee hee…You sound like you are actually having fun.
Congrats on the school spot.
You are indeed a, like, champion mommy blogger!
I’m not sure how I got here. Hope I didn’t knock anything over. I can be a bit clumsy. Actually I got here, I think, from Cathouse Teri’s, so you can blame her.
well done on getting the school spot, that really is the tough one. Now she is on the road.
I have to bloody find you, then i can vote.
I tried the search and ’twas brillig does not compute. Are you under another name? what PAGE as there are so many nominees.
Is Madeleine Fluffy? Am I dense? Do you say it Leen or Line?
The falling down the stairs would have sent ME to the hospital for sure. Isn’t that “thud” just sickening??? Like, it signals your stomach to drop to your feet. SOOO glad he was okay!
As for the tub…you are much cooler than me. That would have ignited my fuse. Then they’d only have like six seconds before I blew up…and that’s just not enough time to clean up and get dressed!
Congrats on the Kindergarten spot…I never ever realized how crazy it is to choose and get into a Kindergarten program. Yikes. I’m sure I’ll be on medication by the time we get to college applications.
Is it terribly wrong that I actually smiled when I read that your baby fell down the stairs?! Well, I did. You know why? Because my baby has fallen off of a very high bed onto a very hard floor twice in the last three months. Onto his baby head.
You’d think I would have learned after the first time. Nope. And I was gone for like ten seconds. I swear.
Hearing that I am not alone in my seemingly direct path to bad-mommy jail is reassuring. Thank you, Brillig!
Continuing my blog within Brillig’s blog, we also just made it to the top of a year-long waiting list for preschool. The relief is ridiculous.
I laughed out loud over the neighbor girl. We’ve got one of those, too.
Love you, girl!
You mean you’re not perfect! I’ll never believe it.
Glad the little guy is ok!
I hope you were able to get some pics of the bathtub scene.
I can’t make a decision on whether you are the hottest mommy blogger because I have not seen any recent pics of you, if I’ve missed them direct me.
With that said, I can’t believe you told CHILDREN not to SPLASH. Like THAT’s gonna work HAHAHAHAHA
You know, as a first time mom it gave me a great deal of comfort to know that the mommy of 4 still manages to turn her back long enough for disaster to strike. I thought it was something that time would help me fix. Guess it’s just one of the hazards of the job.
MJ has fallen off the bed twice so far. She’s only been mobile for about a week so far. I think I’m in for it. lol
Rebecca,
Sometimes it’s one a day, sometimes it’s ten! But you know all about that, don’t you!
Jenn IH,
Hahaha. Shaving cream. Yeah, I think I’ll hold off on that one… I guess I’m not really quite THAT cool!
Jennifer,
Oh, I’m sure you’re right. I will keep a handy stash of kleenex in the car!
Luisa,
Phew! At least I’m not alone. And, by the looks of things, they didn’t lock you up. I guess there’s hope for me.
Janet,
OH, don’t even get me started on the neighbor children. My kids are actually pretty dang well behaved… but those pesky neighbor kids bring out the worst. Grrrrr…
Dan,
Hahahaha. Hi and welcome. As for Teri, I already blame her for pretty much everything, so that will work fine.
Lady MacLeod,
Wow! You’re going to so much trouble! The link in my post should take you right to my page, but just in case I messed up the link, the searches are actually done under URL as opposed to Site name, to you can find me under brillig-the-great.blogspot.com. The trick here is that the snapshot that they have of my site is of one of my blog’s previous templates, so it looks totally different from what you’re used to seeing here. Anyway, thanks for going to the trouble!! What a sweety!!!!
Butrfly,
Yah, hi. I’m Brillig of the Mommy Brain. Yes, Madeleine is indeed Fluffy. Ooops. And yeah, we say it MAD-uh-lin. It’s spelled in the traditional (French) way. And don’t worry, later on in the evening they and the neighbor kids did get the ol’ fuse lit. I sent them to bed without any supper. THAT’S a FIRST for me! I was SO MAD!!!! But that’s a different blog post, I suppose.
Life AIKI,
Hahahaha! Indeed! I’ll be right there with you on the medication…
Megan,
Hi there, friend! It’s been a while! Thank you for reassuring me that I”m not alone. Sigh. We’ll share a jail cell, okay? And you know you can always blog within my blog, right?
Sugar Kane,
AHAHAHA. If you only knew how ridiculously far from perfect I am, you might run away from this blog screaming. That’s why I only give snippets of my “worst mommy of the year” campaign… And no pics, alas. I really ought to keep a camera handy for those “special” moments, huh!
Ba Doozie,
Well, see, if I posted recent pics of myself, no one would EVER vote for me! Unless they find overweight, sleep deprived, going-grey zombies hot…
Paige,
Oh I’m so glad to have been of comfort to you! hahaha. Sounds like you can share a jail cell with me and Megan, while the crazy lady down the street takes care of all of our kids.
I swear - I cannot get on here fast enough to comment before 15 other people! I remember when Cache fell off the bed when he was a few months old. I ran downstairs to make his bottle - I swear I was out of that room for 30 seconds! The next thing I hear as I’m screwing the lid on the bottle is a big thud followed by a scared little cry. Oh…the guilt I felt. I’m so with you! It’s just like Sara said to me when I had my breakdown a few weeks ago - “They won’t remember any of it, it’s you that will be scarred for life”. Perfect.
Congrars on the school! Jealous I am. We have no such luck which is why we’ll be school-poor for the next…12-20 years.
Those kidos are so quick to do exactly what you least expect them to! So glad your little guy is ok.
CONGRATS on the charter school admission! That is a huge weight lifted off of your shoulders, I am sure!
I love how the craziness of other mom’s gives me that lovely feeling of solidarity. It’s not just me stuff like that happens to!
Yeah, I’ll be sharing the jail cell as well.
Congrats on the school! So nice to have confirmation, isn’t it?
And by the way, I got all teary reading your blurb about me. ~sniff~ Thanks for the ego stroke!
done.
Hey, public school didn’t hurt me any. I may be a neurotic psychopath, but that came from my parents, not public school.
What am I voting for again?
I’ll go vote,
And I feel warm and fuzzy when I read posts about “oops” moments. Makes me feel like I’m not the only bad one.
OMG, Brillig, I’m so lovin’ that you posted this. Now I can remove you from that pedestal I put you on
Seriously , we all have those moments…when J was 4 months old I turned my back and she rolled right off of my bed. That was one of many times when I’ve uh questioned my parenting skills.
Oh and sorry to sound ignorant but what is Charter school ? Is it the same as private school ?
Wow. You mean God really does move in mysterious ways? Hmmm…
I think all children need to fall down the stairs at least once. It’s their learning curve.
So when you said, “Once the littlest boys were in bed for their naps,” my mind was suddenly swept into the idea that you run a children’s home. Like in Peter Pan!
A poem by William Cowper, the one I adore:
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
Click click click. Voted.
Ah, the shampoo in the tub. Been there - difficult to clean. Poor Brillig.
Congrats on the charter school! Yay!
Just wait for baseball bats, basketballs, and other sports equipment to become lethal weapons. That’s when the fun begins.
And yes, darling Brillig, I voted for you….
Call me crazy, but try saying the title of this blog with a lisp. I think it’ll give you a smile.
My son was in the tub the other night and my husband forgot to remove all of the hair and body care products from the sides…after a while it got VERY quiet. Upon inspection we found that my son had dumped all of the shampoo and conditioner into the tub to “wash” and was in the process of emptying my can of shaving gel. He had his little play razor and was “shaving like daddy”. Oh…and last night? He stabbed himself in the ear with a stick when I wasn’t looking and then while we were at the doctor’s office his father opened the door on his little foot and tore the skin off his big toe.
Don’t feel bad. We all have “those” days.
It just makes me feel good that I’m not the only one that gets into trouble for sneaking away to blog! These are the moments that are endearing.
Babies can be so quick sometimes huh? The minute I put my baby down upstairs…he morphs into speedy gonzales and heads towards the cat’s water bowl to splash.
I can only imagine that bathtub scene!