gum in hair, poop on stair.

What a day.

It started with a wad of gum in her hair. Some olive oil and lots of combing later, we only had to cut out a small chunk.

Then she was off to Grandma's for the morning and nap time. We're all good.

Then she woke up. Oh. my.

Trouble. She went to the bathroom and came out without her undies or pants on. Whatevs. In our house, pants are always optional. The problem was apparently she didn't wipe and when I gave her a time out for hitting her brother, she wiped her bum all over the carpeted stairs. Her dirty bum. I don't have to draw you a picture, I'm sure. I was not impressed.

I went into the bathroom and discovered probably half a bottle of soap squirted all over the counter, floor and toilet. Another time out followed with a good dose of her trying to clean it up.

As you know, our livingroom is down to the bare boards right now. We had Corner2corner in this morning to spray the floors down with an odor eliminator, so the boards were a little damp.

Around 4 or so, I noticed that all the knots in the wood had water in them. I called Chelsea into the room and asked her if she had sprayed water onto them.

"Nope. I drank from my sippy and spit it out on the holes."

Seriously?

There was a "consequence" and a time out. Followed again by Chelsea having to clean up her mess.

Hmm... what else? I know there was more. By about 4:30 I was done. I'd had it. Chris could not come home soon enough. I knew I had run out of patience, if I even had any today to begin with. I wasn't doing well because my house is in disarray. The toys the kids always play with are moved around, there's no room to move in the dining room, the basement is overcrowded and I was frustrated with all the setbacks during what was supposed to be a quick renovation (I know - is there such a thing?)

Then my little C walks up to me, out of the blue and says, "I forgive you, mom."

"For what?" I ask.

She gives me a hug. "For yelling at me today."

...

Aw. Shucks. Guess this is one of those bad mommy days.

We had some snuggle time and I apologized. I'm so glad children are so forgiving. We talked about how she needs to listen and why mommy says no. We hugged and kissed and said some "I love you's" and then I gave her to the neighbours for a while because I still needed a break. I'm so grateful for my neighbour friend who loves my children but more importantly, gets me and totally understands where I'm at right now with no judgement. It means a lot.

Eventually, she returned from next door and when tucking Chelsea into bed tonight, she pulled me close and said, "I'm happy with you, mom. Are you happy with me?"

I reassured her that indeed, I was very happy with her, and that I was glad that we could start all over tomorrow. Sometimes, I'm not happy with her behaviour, but I'm always happy with her. She has such a way of knowing just what to say.

What a way to end the day. Just knowing that someone is happy with me. Isn't that what we want every day? On those days when we find it so hard to be happy with ourselves - the way we look, the weight we are, how tidy the house is, how high the laundry pile is, how many dirty dishes there are... Just to have someone look at me and say something as simple as "I'm happy with you."

Loves.

P.S. I'm happy with you, too. :)