fly on the wall: Millis morning

Here's the truth, I have mom envy. 

I don't think I am alone in this, maybe I am!? But as I read my blog list each morning thoughts go through my head, why can't I be more creative like her, why can't I design my house as well as her, why can't my family be so organized, perfect, awesome like hers? WHY? 

I think it is natural as human beings to compare ourselves with others, in the blog world it is no different. 

But heres the thing about blogs, they are a creative expression, a piece of written work and like any other art form you want to present the best of yourself, so that's what we post. And there is nothing wrong with that. 

What it causes though is this idea/picture of these moms/people/artist/friends living this awesome, perfect, chaos free life and that is just not true. 

So I want to expose the REAL of families. Starting with mine. I plan on asking MANY blogging moms/people out there to allow us to view their real lives as well. So keep checking back here through out this year for hopefully lots of these Fly on the Wall posts. 

Today, Sept 14th 2011. 

7:30 like clockwork the littles of this house awaken. This morning Ayla babbles next to my head as I have brought her into bed with me at about 5am, because she is constantly waking to have the soother popped back in...

Ivy's still singing her wake up song, meaning she is not quite ready to be brought downstairs, so Ayla and I head down to the playroom for a diaper change and some boob.

7:50 Ivy is calling us to bring her down. Keith goes up and grabs her. 

8am the morning has begun. I look around and see the mess of yesterday still everywhere. I went out for coffee last night with a friend, that means all the evening cleaning was not done. 

Coffee and chocolate milk are needed. The first tantrum of the day occurs when I pour the milk into the glass instead of letting Ivy do it. The storm is calmed by letting her squeeze in the chocolate syrup. 

Next tantrum occurs when I try to turn on Ivy's morning cartoons and she freaks out because she wants to play Dora Wii Fit not watch shows and I am not awake enough to play Dora Wii Fit so I say NO and turn on the Berenstain Bears. 

She calms down when the sounds of the bears captures her attention. For the duration of this show I enjoy my coffee and look at blogs, e-mails, facebook and start my own post for the day. 

By 8:30 hunger strikes and I am back in the messy kitchen making toast/cereal/applesauce while the next show is playing.  

I feed Ayla, while eating my toast, while finishing my computer stuff, while Ivy eats as her second show finishes. 

9am sometimes we are onto a 3rd show at this point, depending on the length of my blog entry. Today though we are headed upstairs to get dressed. It is cold out so we are dressing warmly. First sweaters of the season, this brings a smile to my face as I run to my closet to pick a sweater...and I run into this, I sigh and say tomorrow I will do laundry. All 4 of our laundry bins look like this. 

Everyone in sweaters. In the time it took me to put on clothes, brush my hair and teeth Ivy has managed to steal the only toy in the house keeping Ayla happy and is refusing to give it back and I shout "then just me and Ayla will go to the park!" Ivy returns the toy and I realize, I guess we are going to the park. Many of our outings happen on spur of the thought threats....

9:10 am heading to the park. We encounter our first problem. Our double strollers back wheel is busted due to Keith rollerblading down a STEEP hill with the cheap, plastic wheels on the graco...so Ivy is walking! Ayla in the Quinny. 

The stroller is stuck. Instead of being reasonable and investigating the problem, out of impatience and anger I force it to move forward as we hear a CRACK and a evil odour attacks our noses. 

I have run over a very OLD sippy cup of milk. Unfairly I yell out "IVY" like it is her fault! She probably put it there like a month ago and I forgot about it. I tell her I am sorry and we head out. 

We get to the park! This park was burnt down by kids on Canada Day with fireworks, so this is the first time we are able to play on it since it being fixed. Ivy runs with a beautiful excitement!

Even with our sweaters we realize how crazy cold it is out. We don't play long before Ayla is fussing and my hands are throbbing from coldness. It is the season for mittens and hats! Taking note. I tell Ivy it's time to go. She freaks out because I did not give her any transitional warning, I deserve this tantrum. I tell her Ayla and I are going home for hot chocolate. She calms down and follows. 

Since it is now only a little after 10am I think up the brilliant idea of going to Starbucks for hot chocolate! I get home and announce this idea, thinking I am an AWESOME mom, and Ivy throws her body onto the driveway saying "Hot chocolate HOME!!!" Shocked, I close the van doors and open the house door. And I make us some water and powder hot chocolate dreaming of the creamy goodness we could have been enjoying at Starbucks. Once again notice how increasingly messy the kitchen is becoming. Later I say. 

Ayla is now OVER ready for her nap. I take her upstairs to feed and rock her to sleep. Leaving Ivy alone with her hot chocolate. She is used to being alone for these times, so what really can go wrong? Baby is soon asleep.

I wake Ayla up taking this picture. Curse. She falls back asleep, luckily. 

Come downstairs to Ivy having peed on the carpet (because her pants were tight and she could not pull them down herself) she has spilled her hot chocolate and left over cereal milk all over her table and just smiles. I take a picture, I find taking this picture actually calms me down and I don't freak out, I just sigh. Clean it all up and sit down for a tiny bit more computer time while Ivy plays with her dolls.

10:45 I now have a choice. I can clean (wow does it need doing) I can play dolls with Ivy or I can do some crafty thing. I decide crafty thing so I can show you the craziness, messiness, drama and tantrums that go along with craft time in our house. I pull out Ivy's new water paints and some canvas's that were on sale at Micheals. We set up in the kitchen. 

Ivy paints while I draw out some pictures I have been planning for above my bed for weeks now! 

11ish Ayla wakes up and joins the mayhem in the exercauser and the inevitable with craft projects occurs, I get so wrapped up in my own project I forget a 2 year old with paints is behind me....

and there is paint everywhere!

It needs to be cleaned before it dries, so here comes the balancing act of dealing with screaming Ayla, telling Ivy not to move and DO NOT TOUCH MOMMIES PICTURES, running to get a rag only coming back to find Ivy using my pretty dishtowels to clean up the mess. 

Breathe in patience. I say this out loud. 

I go with the flow and clean up the rest of the paint with the already dirty dish towels. Pop the soother in Ayla, run Ivy to the bathroom, clean up the paints and canvas's before little Ivy can make more of a mess. Run into the washroom to clean Ivy to see that she has spilled all the pee in her potty onto the floor....missing the toilet where she had intended it to go. 

I may have lost my cool a bit. Saying over and over pee goes in the potty, not the floor. 

Clean it all up. Breathe out love. 

11:30, time to blog all this truth. But not before one more tantrum because I am spending too much time, cleaning, putting away, downloading pictures instead of being with Ivy. Kinda deserve this one too. 

Our typical morning! Perfect isn't it? To us it is, because, well it's us! 

Stay tuned for more and more of these. Really excited about it, about being real with you all :) 

 

 

 

Comments

[Carling Benson]

I loved this post!!!

[val]

omg i love it. so perfect. that was like my yesterday when i heard brady going bathroom in the tub and thought genious i will throw him on the potty as he dumps a bucket of water all over my head and the floor. glad ur not perfect:)

[Dayna Golden]

Thanks Alicia for being so open on your blog.

[Amy]

This was the best post ever!!! I could relate to every single second of it! The spilled pee, the sour milk, the tantrums, all of it! Can't wait to see more:) And I will also try to do this from time-to-time on my own blog:) Thanks for being real!

[KLTTX]

Loved it too. So glad to know I am not the one with a messy house. Difference is mine will still be messy tomorrow and the next day too :)

[Carmen]

I loved this :). Thanks for your honesty and openness :)

[Stephanie Schoenberg]

Beautiful! :)

[chantelle]

Sounds like my typical day most days!! But like you said...its "us" and I sometimes feel the same way that some tantrums I kind of asked for. Its just the way it goes. There is no "perfect family" and yes, most people seem to blog about the good times, but I think for me, I would rather focus on those then relive and dwell on the tough times. I know for me that they shape me and teach me a lot about being a mom. We just have to take all the bad and the good and remember they are just "babies" or "toddlers". Great post Alicia!

[Mel]

I love this post more than you know. It is so absurdly relatable. I think the toddler tantrums made me LOL so hard because I couldn't relate more to any other soul on the planet at the moment I read them than I relate to you.

It is amazing how real REALITY is and how little people could ever understand another person's until they see it. I always think I am a huge failure because so many moms I know seem to be doing such a better job at all this than I am.

Thanks for being so real!!!
xoxo

[linds]

This is a great post! I loved all the pics and the moment by moment action. Very honest and real. :) xo I look forward to more!

[Susan]

Where is that park?