But sometimes it's to my own detriment. At 3 1/2 and 2 years old, it's amazing how quickly they can demolish an entire room when left to their own devices. It's like a tornado coming through quickly and destroying everything in its path in a matter of minutes.
Exhibit A:
"I just wanted to see what was in my closet." (A lot apparently! Unintended result: cleaning out the closet.)Exhibit B:
The construction of a "pillow bed" using all the pillows from around the house that they could gather.And they have already formed a sibling alliance that is as tight as Fort Knox. After leaving the bathroom the other morning, my children stayed behind to play. (Yes, we were all in the bathroom together because I am a mother and have NO PRIVACY...but I digress). All they had with them were a pencil and pad of paper and when I left they were drawing "fishies". Harmless enough, right? About a minute or two later, I hear my 2 year old say to her brother "no tell Mommy."
I waited to hear what came next but another minute or two later, they both emerged as innocent as two little angels who can do no wrong. So I asked my son, "what did you guys do in the bathroom?" He gave me a guilty grin and replied (as any good brother who's protecting his sister would say) "nothing". I told him I heard his sister tell him not to tell mommy something and again asked him what they did. He again denied involvement in any activity that would be contrary to what they know would be wrong. So I let it go and headed to the bathroom to survey the destruction. But I saw nothing. Until about an hour later when I went to use the bathroom, sat down (sorry, TMI) and saw that they had used the pencil to draw all over the bathtub.
As a parent I want my children to be friends, confidants, mentors, protectors of one another. It makes it pretty hard to get upset with them when they are being destructive together, because they are, afterall, bonding. And even when it's frustrating, it still makes me smile on the inside knowing that they are building a bond that will last them a lifetime. For now their partnership has been pretty harmless...but talk to me when they're teenagers. I'm sure I won't be smiling on the inside or the outside when they are plotting against us or covering for one another! But for now, I'll let them continue to build their alliance.
What's the worst thing your children have done while you were in the other room, in the shower, out of earshot?
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Oh, I know this all too well! Every day I debate whether I should enjoy the silence and peace of the older two playing together, or if the MESS is really worth it. :P
ReplyDeleteThankfully, they haven't done anything that couldn't be cleaned up (yet), but there was the memorable day they somehow managed to get a mattress off brother's bed and created a "carnival" that included mattress jumping and (for some odd reason) plastic hangers - that of course they got by ripping all their clothes off of them in their closets.
Well my daughter and her cousin (who I watch) haven't necessarily formed alliances, but they do get into trouble! The other day I made the mistake of brushing my teeth and my daughter ripped the keys off the keyboard. Ah well
ReplyDeleteExactly!! It fyou go check on them, you risk disrupting their peaceful playing. BUT, if you don't, who knows what you'll find!! My daughter ripped up one of my son's books in the tiniest pieces once. My son drew on the walls with crayon. My son ate a whole bag of fishies. So many things like this I can't even remember them all :)
ReplyDeletemy kiddos are close in age, too, so they certainly can do that! now that they are a little older (4 and 5) they are better about it! emmy, the younger, is still very messy.
ReplyDeleteone memory that stands out is when i was sick in bed with the flu, and i could not get out of bed... they were 2 and 3. they got ahold of a roll of paper towels and ran through the house, leaving a trail of it behind them, giggling and having a blast the whole time! i just laid there thinking, at least they are entertaining themselves!
My three year-old and two year-old are definitely alliances. We've been in our current home just about six months now and to date, the worst they've down here was when I was switching a load of laundry from my washer to the dryer. I came out of our laundry room to find two little girls in front of my fridge with cracked eggs, poured milk and butter. They were making "tuptakes". I cleaned it up and that evening when I was straightening their room up, I smelled something funny. My nose led me to the oven on their pretend kitchen which had a tiny little pot full of milk and egg. YUM.
ReplyDeleteThey've also managed to destroy a whole pan of brownies and spread little brown clumps all over our living room floor in the time it took me to make their little brother's bottle.
And, girl, I once spent HOURS scrubbing the walls of their room after a playdate with some toddlers their age resulted in a "pretty (black and blue) picture" on their freshly painted lilac walls.
But, the saving grace comes when I walk into a room in time to catch them telling each other "you're my bery best friend, sister."