jnwilkerson

As the mother of three boys ages four, three, and an ever-so-innocent two months, there are quite a few phrases that I am forced to use on a daily basis. Some may include, “Because I said so, Be nice to your brother, Get your shoes on NOW, Don’t tell me NO, Do you want me to get the Hot Sauce?, I said GET IN BED!, Get your toys off the floor”…The list is almost endless. However, the phrase that I use most often would have to be:::drumroll please::: “BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T LISTEN!” Boys are hard wired, apparently, to defy the odds, rebel against nature (and gravity), and push every possible limit.

I had just put baby Owen down for a nap and I turned a movie on for Jesse. Inspector Gadget seems to be the movie of the week. I decided to sit down and check my email, bank account (*sigh*), and whatever else might peak my interest. However, before I could even settle into my chair, I could hear my three year old playing with the baby toys. It’s not a big deal, but I could also hear him jumping FROM the couch TO the baby toys. I told him to stop several times, never bothering to leave the office to check if he actually obeyed. Finally, about ten minutes later, I heard a loud whack against the living room wall. It wasn’t until I yelled his name that he began to cry about how he had hit his head and it was hurting. I believe this was the first time today that I was forced to say, “BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T LISTEN!” Usually, we haven’t even sat down for breakfast before those words cross my lips, but today was an exception.
Let me give a few more examples: Like when the boys are running laps through the house and I tell them to stop, but they don’t listen and my plants end up sideways on the floor with potting soil from the front door to the kitchen!; or when they’re in the bathtub and I tell them not to splash too much because the floor will get soaked, but they don’t listen, and I walk in and bust my butt on the SOAKED floor!; or when I tell them to stop pulling eachother around the house on a blanket, but they don’t listen, and Joshua slams his face into a stone fireplace (at someone else’s house), or when my mom would tell me that I needed to buckle Jesse into the stroller when he was a baby, but I didn’t listen, and we ended up in the after hours clinic because Jesse fell out of the stroller and landed on his head at the mall (OOPS!). Yeah, kids don’t understand that most of the things we are trying to protect them from, are things that we already have scars from! Oh well, one day they’ll learn, and until then, we’re becoming well aquainted with the ER nurses and the social workers from Family and Children’s Services (just kidding!). Oh the joys of boys!

I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. Did I mention it was only 87 degrees at 11am this morning! Usually it’s 105 by then! Must be a cool front rolling in. My children are going to die from lack of fresh air if it doesn’t cool off enough for us to go to the park a few times a week. Not to mention my sanity! One whole month of 110 degree heat and being cooped up inside with three kids; I need a seriously large martini… oh wait, the electric bill is almost $300…I guess that martini is just not in the budget, but we DO have some Nyquil (just kidding!).