No sense crying over spilled milk? It couldn’t possibly have been a mother of small children that coined that phrase. Children never cry over spilled milk. Have you ever seen one cry? Most of the time they innocently say in that sweet prolonged tone – “Uh-oh…” followed by a smug and delightful little smile. No – it’s not the child that cries. It’s the Mom!
During lunch today, a tablecloth tug-of-war ensued between all three of my girls. Back and forth, side to side – I couldn’t intervene fast enough. Eliza won. The prize? Milk in her lap, on the chair and all over the floor. Did she mind? Not a bit. But I did! Spilled milk seems to be the hallmark chore lately. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner – multiplied by how many cups are thrown against the walls, tipped over, swiped across the table, swirled and sloshed, or purposely dumped onto the floor. And it isn’t just one spill per child. It’s multiple spills, per child, per meal!
Some days I think Sami ought to go out for the discus throw in High School. She has quite the powerful lob – a large wind up across the chest, nice spin on the sippy cup, and whammo! The cup smacks into the wall and the lid flies off. Aim doesn’t seem to be of much importance to her.
Lately I spend more time on bended knee (not for worship purposes) cleaning up messes than any other activity of the day! Crunched food, slopped food, fishies and cheerios (most ruinous under foot – those little circles obliterate into dust!), rice (worst to clean up – sticks to all their clothes and hands like superglue) yogurt (almost as bad as milk), water, and the ever-blessed milk. Could it possibly be that these three girls are gaining weight? With that much food in excess on the floor?! Incredible.
And so go the days of motherhood, crying over spilled milk (I didn’t actually cry today – yelling would have made me feel better – but I didn’t do either). Blogging. That’s how I’m dealing with spilled milk. And I should probably spend a little more time on bended knee, asking for patience. I could definitely use it.
Dinner for tonight? We’re going out.
Becky
What!? Those adorable girls making messes? I don’t believe it. 🙂
We finally found a pretty good solution for spills (which, sadly, still happen at four). We taped a fun circle to the table and that’s where the cup goes. The circle is a good distance from swinging arms and elbows, so there’s been improvement.
Kudos for not crying or yelling – that’s truly admirable.
cprolf
Lose the tablecloth! That would make it much more difficult for them to spill each other’s milk with the pulling back and forth. I can’t remember the last time I actually used a tablecloth.
Misty
AMEN! 🙂 Well said, glad I’m not the only mom cleaning and crying.
Misty
AMEN! Well said. I’m glad I’m not the only mom cleaning and crying. 🙂
it's a good thing you're cute
You’ve earned a dinner out!
Stephie
What a fun post! There was point in time when I seriously considered feeding Margot in the tub just to save time on cleaning up afterward.
Rachel
Wow! That would be difficult for any hero to endure! Just keep blogging… the rest of us appreciate your outlet. Love ya!
Megan
I had never thought of that but it is SOOO true! They NEVER cry, but we do!
cindy
One day you will look back at these, spilled milk days, and be thankful that you had them.