Glass Half Empty?

One of my best friends copied me on a daily group email….called Daily Dozen. The idea is to list things that you are truly grateful for. I guess it makes you look at what is "good" in your life, because when you are doing it tough it is so easy to look at the negatives!  So I read some of the mails from other ladies in the mailing list and it went something like this….

I am grateful for:

1. The beautiful day spent with kids

2. The day on the beach with the kids

3. That my son told me he loves me

4. That I have a husband & family that love me

5. That my family are healthy

The daily dozen emails started when my glass was half empty so finding things to be grateful for was not easy but I gave it a go. Here is a copy of my list…(And just in case you think I am making it up I have included photographic evidence at the end)

Grateful that I managed to get the bum cream out of Caitlyn's hair after only 6 washes (although I had to throw her clothes away and her dolls is now sporting a hairdo that looks like something out of the movie, "Something about Mary")

Grateful that I managed to get most of the lip liner scribble out of my cream carpet

Grateful that when Lilly shouted snake it was actually just a poo she had done on the playroom carpet and not a real snake. (Shew, cause living in Australia we have some pretty impressive snakes)

Grateful that Caitlyn finger painted on the shower door, wall and towels with tooth paste which is a HELL OF A LOT easier to get off than bum cream - it could have been alot worse!

Grateful that when Caitlyn asked me to paint her nails and I said "No!" she improvised with a texter and managed to keep it to her finger nails and toe nails without getting it on my white duvet cover.

Grateful that when Caitlyn wee'd in the bed it only went on the duvet, sheets, and 3 of the pillows, and not all 4 pillows.

Grateful that I did not notice the oil marks on my clean top until after I had gotten back from the shops.

Grateful that when the kids pushed a water fountain over at the beach cottage we hired for the weekend, they only broke it, but never broke one of their feet as it landed on the floor.

Grateful that I found 3 full pairs of earrings (out of 10) after crawling on the floor on my hands and knees looking for them after the kids threw the pot that I keep them in across the room, without the lid on (of course!)

Grateful that I am not the only one that hates my job

Grateful that today is a creche day so kids can cause havoc at creche rather than at home.

Grateful for the people who invented GIN and TONIC!

I don’t email my daily dozen (infact this was the only list I ever sent out), but I do love the concept, and reading everyone else's lists.  I find that when you look at what you have to be grateful for you seem to find more and more, and then all of a sudden that half empty glass starts being half full.  (Or Craig topped up my Gin and Tonic again?)  

This post is in no way sponsored by Sudocrem, Napoleon, Colgate or Artline - however if you know of anyone that works there - tell them from me - GREAT PRODUCTS - "Sticks like shit to a blanket" (as they say in the classics)   

Copy CAT

So “they” (the infamous “they” that we are yet to meet) say that kids are like sponges and absorb everything you say and do! .  I thought Pfftt… nah, surely you would have to repeat it enough times for them to pick up (and use it at an inappropriate time, of course).

Well it seems Caitlyn has proved me wrong yet again! We are going through “that” stage at the moment.

So I was driving the girls to crèche the other morning and stopped to let a lady into the traffic! I motioned to the lady to go. She just sat there. Again, I motioned to the lady to go. And again she just sat there. So AGAIN I motioned to her to go but this time said “GO” (as if she could hear me). Again she sat. This time I motioned to her to go and yelled “COME ON…GO.” At that point Caitlyn yells “COME ON YOU STUPID COW, GO!” Um… ok truth be told, I let that one slip a while ago and thought the kids were preoccupied in the back and never heard me. SEEMS I WAS WRONG Caitlyn HEARS EVERYTHING! She stores it in her little “to be used” folder for a rainy day! And that day just arrived! Back peddling I told Caitlyn that I could not see a cow anywhere and it is not very nice to call someone a cow… Even if they can’t drive to save their lives!

We were coming out the crèche one day and an older boy was acting silly in front of us. Caitlyn rolls her eyes and says “Stop being an idiot” and I will admit…it was exactly what I was thinking. Next thing the mother of this boy turned to Caitlyn and said “That is not a very nice thing to say”. I shook my head and said “She must have heard that from one of the other kids at school.” Meanwhile I was thanking God while hightailing it out of there that she only called him an idiot! SHEW….I got off lightly!

Cat and Lil were playing with their dolls in the play room the other day and I overheard Caitlyn say  to her doll, “now sit down and stop being a little shit!”  UM…..OK, I have nothing to say (insert BLUSH here)

On Saturday we went out and Caitlyn wanted to get out her car seat but couldn’t work the seat belt on the child seat. In frustration she yells “BLOODY”…. again, it could have been worse…SHEW!

When Caitlyn or Lilly say a word that we deem as inappropriate we tell them “that is a mommy/daddy word and you are not allowed to use that word or we will wash your mouth out with your shampoo” (that reminds me I need to replace the kids shampoo because it seems it is not very child friendly and burns their eyes – but when threatened with having their mouths washed with it, it works a treat). So the other day I said to Caitlyn “we are going to have breakfast with Tarryne”. Caitlyn repeats the word Tarryne, giggles and says “Mommy am I allowed to say that word?” When I said yes…. She said TARRYNE TARRYNE TARRYNE and giggled cause it was a word she was not getting in to trouble for saying!  

Caitlyn was playing she was the teacher last night. She calls Lilly and says “come over here and sit on your boddem”. Lilly not wanting to play along gets up and walks away. Caitlyn jumps off the couch and runs after Lilly saying “LILLY TODD COME HERE AT ONCE”. Monkey see monkey do. Clearly copying her teacher at crèche.  When I told the teacher she smiled and said “don’t think you get of lightly either!” Apparently Caitlyn was telling the class at teatime how I yell at them every morning to hurry up and gave them a blow for blow account of how our mornings play out! (BLUSH)  

The other night Craig was nagging Caitlyn over and over again, saying "do you love me Caitlyn?" When she wouldn't answer Craig pretended to cry. Caitlyn turns to Craig and says "SUCK IT UP CUPCAKE!" Yip clearly she has stored that one a way for a rainy day! Craig and I were in fits of laughter as we hadn’t heard that one come out before! It just seems that they file these words/sayings/actions away and then BAM when you least expect it, it comes out!

I said to Caitlyn one morning - "Come on it is time for school, let's go". She says "I can't go to school today!" So I said "why not?" She says "because I don't have my lips on, and I am not leaving this house without my lips!". Cat refused to budge until I put "lips" on her. Seems Caitlyn is watching my every move these days! I caught her (on so many occasions I have lost count) in my make up draw the other day. I yelled “What are you doing in there?” Caitlyn turned to look at me and had a unibrow painted across her forehead. After I had scraped myself off the floor from laughing I said “what is that on your forehead?” She says “I don’t know mommy but I want to look like you!” Clearly she has seen me using a brow brush and thinks I am putting mascara on my eyebrows. It was after I posted this on Facebook that a friend reminded me that little girls want to be just like their mommy’s and that is why they copy EVERYTHING.    

I must admit when I overhear Caitlyn using “nice” words, like when she calls Lilly “My Angel”, “My Poppet” or “My Sweetheart” it brings such a sense of joy to me! That is when I sit back and think Ok maybe we are not doing such a bad job after all! Well we make it up as we go along and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but we do have a few laughs along the way.