Every morning Julia wakes up at an ungodly hour, pees and goes downstairs to play and wait for Dave. When he gets up he gets her a drink, turns cartoons on for her and then gets ready and leaves for work. I get up shortly thereafter, collect Oliver and bring him down, make coffee and fix Oliver a bottle. Then we join Julia in the family room where I sit here at the computer and drink my coffee, check my email, various news sites and read a handful of blogs while my children alternate between watching television and playing in the “play area” behind me. I usually have time for two coffees before they start crawling up the walls, which is when I haul everyone upstairs, make breakfast and then get a move on the day.
This morning, however, my oldest friend called first thing and I had the audacity to sit on the other side of the family room, in the recliner, with my coffee, and chat with her for a few minutes. I can’t remember the last time I talked to her for longer than thirty-three seconds – talking on the phone is something I have accepted, albeit begrudgingly, that I cannot do around my children because as soon as they see me on the phone and gasp! paying attention to something other than their sweet selves! they turn into total animals and destroy my home.
I spent maybe ten minutes on the phone with my girlfriend and then had to let her go because judging from the noises coming from the other side of the room, Oliver was tearing my house down brick by brick.
I wasn’t that far off.
38 Comments, Comment or Ping
Oh my Gosh!!!! How in the world did they move that chair??? I feel for you. I have a 9 yr old and a 6 yr old. They can literally take a room apart in two minutes or less. Hope you enjoyed your conversation on the phone.
September 13th, 2006
Good God woman………….
September 13th, 2006
As my mom used to say… “Did a tornado hit in there or what?”
September 13th, 2006
I swear to God, I was about to take a similar photo yesterday! When KAATN walked in the door he literally asked, “When did the tornado hit?”
Amazing the destruction the teeny ones can do …
September 13th, 2006
Are you sure all that can be done by one person in only ten minutes? Hard to believe. :)
September 13th, 2006
*stifled giggle*
Well in positive news I LOVE your hardwood floors!
September 13th, 2006
Recliner???
There’s the problem right there…
They thought your guard was down…
Next time talk to her in the kitchen…
September 13th, 2006
Yowza – do you have a poltergeist???
September 13th, 2006
My kids are usually pretty good about the huge messes, but lately my two year old has been Mr. Destruction while the older three are at school. He pulled all the tissues out of the box and threw them all over the floor, and took all the paper out of the printer and crumpled it up all over the floor. I came down from brushing my teeth and could not believe he got all that accomplished while I was upstairs for only a few minutes. Imagine what he could get done if he would turn his special talent to good things!
September 13th, 2006
I hope that it was an especially good phone call. You paid a price. Ouch.
September 13th, 2006
My little monkey masacres the living room every day! My hubby can’t understand why it’s always such a mess….Everyday–total destruction. Your photo, though, takes the cake. That is insane! ;) Nice to see you talk about letting your kids do their own thing in the morning while you do yours. I used to only turn on the computer while the monkey slept. But, I’ve realized it’s okay to let her do her own thing–good to let her do her own thing; it teaches her, as a blogger friend of mine pointed out, that the world doesn’t revolve around her. :) I try to get out of the house as much as possible, though, when she’s not napping.
September 13th, 2006
I am so sorry for the loss of your sanity. I mean, if that were me and I had to clean that up I think my brain would have exploded right then and there. So at the very least you must have went a little psychotic after seeing that. Right? You don’t have to answer, I know you’re still recovering.
September 13th, 2006
That’s some impressive work he did there. Just to amuse your readers, please talk on the phone for an hour next time and then post the ensuing photo.
(My girls are 8 and 10 and still are drawn to me for some mysterious reason when I’m on the phone. Today one of them interrupted me with elaborate hand motions to tell me that when she sneezed, “It went ALL over my book.”)
September 13th, 2006
I especially love when my husband comes home and bluntly asks “what’d you do all day?” after taking a quick glance at the kitchen and playroom. Children somehow manage to suck every ounce of energy from our bodies, don’t they?!
September 13th, 2006
Yeah, my days of long girlie chats are long gone. My kids always lift up the extension and scream into it while I’m on the phone, shouting “Who is it?” “What do you want?” and if I try to ignore the gremlins on the line they go and scribble my lipsticks all over the bathroom mirror or attempt to drink nail polish. Nowadays I stick to email.
September 13th, 2006
Holy!
September 13th, 2006
This must be in the kid handbook because my kids still do it , all 3 of them and it drives me nuts!
September 13th, 2006
Ah yes, that looks just like our game room most days. Just tonight I caught S scaling the shelves of the game room closet. Really, why shouldn’t every single toy we own be spread all over the floor?!
September 13th, 2006
I can hear them plotting: It’s more fun when you take out every single toy and scatter them like this. It’s a smashing good time. Mom may look like she’s going to lose her mind but she may just take a photo and that is because she values our work of art.
September 14th, 2006
Hey! That looks just like my living room!
Sometimes I make my daughter pick every single toy/thing herself, sometimes we do it together, sometimes I leave the room for a whole week in that state! :oP
I don’t have conversations on the phone either. It’s impossible!
September 14th, 2006
Wow, looks like a tornado blew through there! I know the feeling of never having time for yourself. Hence the reason I’m up at 1am blogging.
September 14th, 2006
You mean that’s not what the playroom is supposed to look like? Because I just don’t have the energy to pick up 2000 Bionicle pieces (seriously) every day.
And Kaitlyn eats napkins, envelopes, magazines, it’s like living with a 20 pound blonde billy goat.
September 14th, 2006
Wow. He did quite the number on that room! Just wait until they’re old enough to want to talk on the phone. I was doing a phone interview for a project the other day, and all of the sudden there was this loud breathing on the line, and then the woman said “John, get off the phone.” which was followed by a whiny, “But Moooom, I need the phoooonnnne!” He picked up three times during the interview to see if she was still on the line. She was embarrassed. I thought it was hillarious!
September 14th, 2006
Wow. The kids is talented! I hope it was a REALLY good phone call.
September 14th, 2006
i didn’t see you sneaking in and taking a picture of my living room? when did you get the chance to do that? my 2 year old can make the same mess in seconds flat.
September 14th, 2006
Heh. It’s amazing, isn’t it?!
Our toy rooms, BTW, are pretty much interchangeable. I recognized almost every toy in the room.
Any ideas what to get the one-year-old boy who has everything for his first birthday?
September 14th, 2006
Let me try this *again*.
First off…are you SURE that is your family room and not mine?!?!?! They sure do look an awful lot alike. LMAO!
And OMFG…seriously, my children are magnets for me getting on the phone. Crickets could be chirping in my house, yet the moment I get on the phone WW3 breaks out. Insanity. What is up w/ them and that second sense?!?!?
September 14th, 2006
I am seriously LMAO! My wife does all of her phone conversations in the front yard so she doesn’t have to watch this happen.
September 14th, 2006
Be thankful they didn’t knock any plants over while they were at it.
I’m still finding dirt in the oddest places.
But thanks for the chuckles. Good to know I’m not alone.
September 14th, 2006
Hey! When did you come take a picture of my living room? Oh wait, wrong wall color.
Sigh. I know what you mean.
September 14th, 2006
Wow. determined little guy, is he? And um, what are you feeding him? (besides books, I mean…)
September 14th, 2006
Poor you! Just think, one day you can take your revenge by pretending to be senile and making merry havoc with Julia and Oliver’s homes :)
September 14th, 2006
And that all happened within the space of a few minutes? Holy moley. At our house, the sign of an impending disaster is usually silence. Later, we’ll find a puddle of urine in the back hall.
(from our dog…lol)
September 14th, 2006
I can’t remember the last time I had more than a 5-minute phone conversation here at the house in front of my kids.
September 14th, 2006
They seem to have a radar for when one is trying to talk on the phone or have sex.
He really showed that room who is boss huh?
September 14th, 2006
Sadie (3 1/2)’s words upon viewing the picture:
whadda big mess! du hab to clean up, mamma?
I shit you not.
September 15th, 2006
ha ha ha.
I love it.
Sorry to laugh at your mistfortunte, but I love it.
♥
September 15th, 2006
Oh shit! If there had been a Jackson Pollack-esque crayon mural on the wall, I’d wonder if my son had let himself into your house. Although come to think of it, he would have tolen away with your coffee and dumped it all over the place, then stripped naked and peed on one of the couch cushions.
I feel your pain.
September 16th, 2006
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