1. Even though we mastered potty training awhile ago, using public bathrooms are still traumatic for our 3 year old. But who can blame her? They’re loud and scary and have enormous drains all over the floors. Rachel still panics if she needs to use one. Last week we stopped for a potty break and she clung to me. She insisted to I go pee first to prove to her that the toilet wouldn’t swallow her whole. As I demonstrated that the toilet was safe, she undid her jeans, dropped them to her ankles and stood with her back against the stall door. And then it happened. The toilet in the next stall flushed. Only a foot away from her. And loudly. She panicked. She screamed. With me still sitting on the toilet and her with her pants down around her ankles, she was off. She yanked on the stall door so strongly that she popped the little hook off and the door flew open. And she took off screaming like a maniac with her bare bum hanging out with tears pouring down her face. Thank goodness the bathroom was full of other moms who understood and there was another door blocking her from the main store. But I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a long time before I can convince her to go back into a public bathroom again. (The sadly bad).
2. This week we went on a little road trip to Ikea. Normally this is a pretty uneventful trip. We drive there. Drool over the pretty living rooms. Eat Swedish meatballs and drive back home. But this time we thought we’d also try to visit Home Sense while we were there. So we hopped into the van, entered the 2nd address from the HS website into our iPhone GPS and away we went. And away. And away. And away. The directions had us journey on to a pay high way and drive a super long distance. When all was said and done we ended up in a suburban neighbourhood in the middle of nowhere. But the GPS said we were exactly where we needed to be. 30 minutes later we pulled up in the Home Sense parking lot and just sat there. Staring at the building. Staring at the parking lot. And then staring back down the road to where the Ikea sat. The two stores were only two blocks apart, not 30 minutes apart and many foul words later. Thank you iPhone GPS. Thank you. (The bad).
3. We’re quick to tell stories about our kids. Cute, funny, sweet, but maybe embarrassing stories that they will hate us for when they grow up. But I just need to share that it’s not just our kids who have these moments worth sharing. They get it honestly. While we were out on our very long drive to reach Home Sense we pulled up to a stop light next to a strip mall. There were dozens of stores with giant signs on the front, some we knew, some we didn’t. Ewan looked around and asked, “Why is there a store called ‘Food and Fashion’”? He stared at the sign, confused and angry that a store would have such a stupid name. I couldn’t help it. I lost it. I nearly gagged on my gum laughing so hard. And Ewan nearly died of embarrassment when I pointed out that the store was actually Walmart and there were different descriptions above different entrances. Including “Food and Fashion” and “Home and Garden”. Poor Ewan didn’t say another word. (Ewan’s very bad).
4. But then much to my horror I did it next. We weren’t driving much longer when we pulled up to a half finished subdivision. I was horrified with how big the houses were. They were four stories tall and big and just plain ugly. I said something to the effect of ‘those houses are so ugly. Look at those weird front doors with big porches and no landscaping”. To which Ewan responded : “Those are the backs of the houses and those are patio doors and back decks”. That’s all I have to write about that. (Brianna’s very bad).
5. Sometimes kids just don’t know what they are saying. They’re lucky. They get to be innocent and make fools of themselves without ever knowing it. So this week while playing in her room Rachel decided that she wanted to play soccer. But she couldn’t find her soccer balls. She looked under her bed. No balls. She looked in her toy box. No balls. She looked in all of her drawers. No balls. So she looked right at me and with the straightest, most serious face said “Mommy, I want balls. Please help give me balls.” Our poor child couldn’t understand why we were laughing and hugging her all at the same time. (The Bad, because we should be more mature than our 3 year old).
6. THANK YOU to everyone for their votes, encouragement and kind words for our nomination in The Poppies favourite photographer category. We are beyond excited that we placed fourth in this competition and are beyond thankful to you for your votes. We have made a donation to Stillerstrong.org on your behalf and really, truly love you guys! (The blog).
Happy Sunday! And since I’m a Mac dork, I couldn’t help but share the amazing-ness that Kat Forsyth shared with me earlier.
- Brianna
by Brianna
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