I don't get much sleep. My little guys get up at 5:30am every day, no matter what time they went to bed the night before. I stopped trying to fight it long ago. Rick is up at 5:30am for work, and Rebekah for seminary - it's pretty hard to convince them it's still night time & to go back to sleep when everyone else is getting up. They go to bed in the evening around 7, but sometimes they are really melting down & it's 6:30pm! This would be all fine and dandy for me, if I didn't have older children needing my attention, help and taxi service. It's usually around 10pm, before I'm finished with my Mothering duties for the day. Then from 10pm to 12/1/2am I do the things I need & want to do. I'm tired a lot, but Emily was just the same & started sleeping later once she was 5yrs old, and Rebekah will get her license and be able to drive to seminary next January , so I know it's not forever.
So, a few weeks ago, there was no school or seminary, and after getting the kids breakfast I decided to let them play downstairs, and just grab a little more sleep. Twenty minutes later Emily woke me up saying "Jane took off her own diaper, and she's poopy!"
The mess was indescribable. If there's one thing I am most obsessive about cleaning - it's our floors. This was not good news for me. In my panicked and half-awake state, I grabbed a new bottle of carpet cleaner. One I hadn't tried before. Not being able to find the spray attachment, I just poured in onto the varying amounts of spread poop. UGH! As soon as I tried to wipe it up, I realized my mistake. This stuff was ultra-super-concentrated, it just started to foam. I got a bucket of water and several cloths, but it only got foamier, and bigger. You know in "The Cat in The Hat Comes Back" how the more they try to clean up the pink, the more it multiplies and spreads .... that was pretty much how I felt.
To make a long & boring story short, that 20 minutes in bed resulted in the purchase of a new carpet shampooer, moving of furniture, gallons of water being used, ignored other tasks for a day and a half, many, many hours of cleaning, lots of tears, some mumbling about maybe just needing to buy new carpet (it's only 18 months old), and Rick finally convincing me to let the remaining residue dry - then trying to vacuum it up.
All that is an overly-long build up to explain these pictures. What can I say, I am a slow learner. Last week, I tried it again. This time, I thought they could play in Emily's room - next to mine. Where I could hear them, and be able to respond quickly. Sure the rest wouldn't be great, but I'll take what I can get.
What was I thinking? After 15 years of parenting, and 3 living with Jacob, I should KNOW not to leave them unattended for any length of time. This one only took 15 minutes!
There was some on the carpet and some on Emily's bed and her crib,
but most of it was just on her.
So, a few weeks ago, there was no school or seminary, and after getting the kids breakfast I decided to let them play downstairs, and just grab a little more sleep. Twenty minutes later Emily woke me up saying "Jane took off her own diaper, and she's poopy!"
The mess was indescribable. If there's one thing I am most obsessive about cleaning - it's our floors. This was not good news for me. In my panicked and half-awake state, I grabbed a new bottle of carpet cleaner. One I hadn't tried before. Not being able to find the spray attachment, I just poured in onto the varying amounts of spread poop. UGH! As soon as I tried to wipe it up, I realized my mistake. This stuff was ultra-super-concentrated, it just started to foam. I got a bucket of water and several cloths, but it only got foamier, and bigger. You know in "The Cat in The Hat Comes Back" how the more they try to clean up the pink, the more it multiplies and spreads .... that was pretty much how I felt.
To make a long & boring story short, that 20 minutes in bed resulted in the purchase of a new carpet shampooer, moving of furniture, gallons of water being used, ignored other tasks for a day and a half, many, many hours of cleaning, lots of tears, some mumbling about maybe just needing to buy new carpet (it's only 18 months old), and Rick finally convincing me to let the remaining residue dry - then trying to vacuum it up.
All that is an overly-long build up to explain these pictures. What can I say, I am a slow learner. Last week, I tried it again. This time, I thought they could play in Emily's room - next to mine. Where I could hear them, and be able to respond quickly. Sure the rest wouldn't be great, but I'll take what I can get.
What was I thinking? After 15 years of parenting, and 3 living with Jacob, I should KNOW not to leave them unattended for any length of time. This one only took 15 minutes!
There was some on the carpet and some on Emily's bed and her crib,but most of it was just on her.
And didn't take as much to clean up as the previous disaster.
And was easy to restore to it's previous condition,
So I didn't even need to think about replacing her (much.)
7 comments:
I can't believe how big she looks. I think she looks a lot like Emily in that last picture.
Nasty poo incidents and I don't mix well at all as I can't stop baulking so this must have been horrendous. For some reason, all my kids' friends seem to have a need to have poo accidents in this house as well and that's even worse cleaning up someone else's mess!
Oh man, sorry Tania! I have when they figure out how to take off their diapers. I had several poo crisis with Luke.
I just laughed at the other story. When Adam was small I learned very quickly the things to put up before I went to bed incase he was alone the next day.
scissors,knives, writing utensils, vasoline, chapstick, you get the idea. I love how Jacob's story remind me of Adam.
oh Tania! this sounds so like my house. anytime I try to rest some disaster or another happens--it is the completely unfair side of parenting--why can't we all just sleep--we could be so much better at our jobs! I guess that is what makes it such an important learning process, that it is HARD! I hope the poopy diaper incident is not a new phase for Jane! Claire went through it at about the same age and would poop after her nap, then take it off and smear poop all over her crib before I had any clue she was awake. So awful. It only lasted a few months--good luck!
I bet Jane thought she looked beautiful, though.
Maybe I'm narcissistic but I think Jane looks like me in that top picture! When I was that age - especially around the eyes. What do you think, Mum and Dad? Of course, Jane and I do share a name...:)
I'm just glad she knew that lipstick goes on the face and poop doesn't! The pictures may not have been as cute!
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