Tonight… we cleaned.
(And no, we did not stage this. She picked up the broom on her own tonight.)
See that nasty drywall dust on the floor above? That has been coating our kitchen for the past 10 days. It is the reason we had plastic taped up over every doorway, why we couldn’t cook in our kitchen, and why life has been generally miserable around these parts.
But tonight! Tonight, we (fingers crossed) finished the little bit of sanding that we had left, and afterward, we immediately got to cleaning. Vacuuming, then scrubbing every crevice of the microwave, the stove, the refrigerator, the countertops, the floor. All of it.
I already feel a million times better. Like this:
Because the chaos that consumed our lives–that weighed on me like someone was sitting on my chest–it was mostly because of the filth. I don’t like the disorder of having no kitchen cabinets and letting the rest of the house go to shit, but hey–at least we were able to take down the plastic and clean up the dust.
For now, it is those little things that are making me happy. We are moving onto the next stage of this project: Paint. On the walls (if we can finally choose a color, which is proving to be tough). On the cabinets.
Yay.
Oh, and lest you think that living with a sweet, adorable little toddler is all fun and games, I feel the need to give you a small dose of reality. Nora made her way over to the stairs with the broom, dropped the broom, tried to climb the stairs, got removed from the stairs, and…
Someone doesn’t like it when she doesn’t get her way. A big ol’ tantrum ensued.
And then this happened:
What…the…? The kid picked up my shoe and bit it before I could even react. It’s not like I paused to take a picture of it while she stuck a nasty shoe in her mouth. I was already snapping away, dutifully documenting her toddler tantrum, when all of a sudden she was biting my shoe. And I got it on camera.
Is it normal for them to bite random things when they’re frustrated? Because this isn’t the first time, unfortunately. At this age, I feel like her tantrums are mostly caused by her inability to effectively communicate, so I wish she would just learn to talk already. But that’s a whole ‘nother subject.
I’m just going to go back to basking in the glory of our clean kitchen. Disassembled? Yes. But clean.
Happy Wednesday. And hey, Happy Leap Year!
5 Responses to Clean Sweep
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About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
Have you looked into baby sign language? I taught my nephew some signs when he was very young and it helped SO much.
I know the picture is of Nora’s tantrum, but all I can look at are Tessa’s super cute food and water bowls! or at least I’m assuming thats what they are. Love the polka dots!
we have tantrums around here alllllllllllllllllllllllll theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee timeeeeeeeeeeeeee. but only for mommy. no one else. so frustrating. i loved the biting the shoe part; never had that here but i can relate to everything eles! LOL!
Aubrey starts to bite my arm (if I’m holding her) when she’s frustrated, so yes, perfectly normal. :)
~Kristen
I don’t want to cause undue worry for you, but because of the problems she’s had with ear infections, I would look into whether she is having hearing problems. My sister had a similar problem when she was a baby and it took her quite awhile to be able to hear the ends of words and she still can’t hear well. My stepson also had the same problem and because he is so loud all the time (louder than is normal for a kid) we think he may have a similar problem.