Our washing machine is constantly chug-chug-chugging. The laundry around here never ends, between Ryker dumping fruit shakes on himself and Jewels shedding on every blanket that she can snuggle into, my life consists of load after load of filth.
Payton loves to help me with this, which is quite adorable, but takes twice the time. She oh-so-carefully takes the cap off of the detergent, pours the detergent to the max line and puts the cap back on. Should you attempt to pour the fabric softener in simultaneously, she will surely collapse into a ball of anger and disappointment.
“I do, Momma. I do.”
Sigh.
In the liquid measure of life, the levels of my patience have been quickly decreasing, moving in a fast, downward spiral, past the max line and settling in well beneath the min line. The liquids down there are much more concentrated in degrees of frustration and annoyance. In a vain attempt to increase my quantity of patience, I tried to dilute the mixture a bit using all of the water we’ve saved since switching to a high efficiency front loader. I was all, “SUCCESS!”- hands in the air, head thrown back, excited when I saw the levels spilling over the top line. Unfortunately, all of that water quickly evaporated, leaving reserves of intolerance swishing around in the shallow pool below. And the residue left behind? Smells like ass.
This is totally irrelevant to Payton. She continues along her challenging path of development and chooses to argue with me at every point along the way.
Sometimes, I’ve just had enough.
Like with her refusal to apologize? That drives me completely insane.
“Payton, please tell Nana that you’re sorry for throwing her things.”
“No.”
“When you throw Nana’s things, that makes her sad and we tell her that we’re sorry to try and make her feel happy again.”
“Nana no sad.”
“She is, please tell her that you’re sorry.”
“Sorry, Momma.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me, please tell Nana that you’re sorry.”
“Sorry, GA-GA!”
“Her name is not Ga-Ga, it’s Nana. Please tell Nana you’re sorry.”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
The patience I need for this girl…
Driving home last night, she was in a mood that was all kinds of cute and Ryker was laughing along with us throughout the drive. So awesome when that happens.
He would point up to the sky, “Eh?”
“That’s the moon, Ryker.”
He would respond in a fit of giggles. Pointing up to the sky, he would repeat, “Eh?”
“MOON, Ry.”
More giggles.
Payton is laughing along and she looks up to the moon in contemplation. I know this, because my rear view mirror? Aimed right on the kids. I don’t care what’s behind me if my children are whacking each other with books and throwing their snacks. I am a super easy target to tail, should you ever be interested in following me back and forth to Grammie’s house.
Payton points to the moon as well. It’s a full moon. “Moon has EYES, Momma.”
“It kind of looks like the moon has eyes, yes? It just looks this way though, it doesn’t really.”
“YES IT DO! YES IT DO!”
Short pause.
“Moon has happy mouth, Momma.”
“I know, the moon kind of looks like it’s smiling too, but it only LOOKS like that, it doesn’t really have a mouth.”
“YES IT DO! YES IT DO! MOON SEE ME!”
“Payton, you have been arguing with me all day. Can you please just listen and believe me? The moon just looks like it has a face, but it really doesn’t. It can’t see you, I promise.”
“YESSSSS ITTTTTTTT DOOOOOOOOO!”
Sigh.
I give up. I totally just have to sometimes.
And today, when watching The Bear In The Big Blue House, Luna the Moon comes on to talk to Bear. Luna, with her watching eyes and happy smile.
“SEE, Momma. Moon has EYES. Moon has MOUTH. MOMMA…” Payton shakes her head in disappointment that I did not agree with and learn from her vast amount of knowledge. Life would be so much easier if I did.
My patience level may have fell below the min line, but Payton’s level of wisdom? SO pouring over the max. It’s like a flood really, that I am currently drowning in.
Someone toss me a life boat, please!
No comments:
Post a Comment