Pee, Poop, and Goldfish Crackers

You know it's a Saturday night in the South (yes, I consider Tallahassee a part of the South, although most folks don't count Florida as such...Tallahassee is really south Georgia but it got lost and refused to ask for directions) when you get out of the shower and find your husband on the couch watching his favorite college football team on his laptop, his second favorite team on the big screen, and checking his Blackberry for other scores, all at the same time.  He politely offered me the T.V., but it was a great opportunity for me to get some scrapbooking done and he just looked so happy, I couldn't upset that lovely balance.  I finished as much scrapbooking as I had the enthusiasm for and thought I'd play around on-line.  I opened up Pinterest, my new Internet obsession, found a cool crafty coaster idea that I thought I'd send to my lovely and talented sister Beth, when I couldn't find her name on my list of people I follow.  Gasp!  Beth's the one who hooked me on this thing, and now she's given it up?!  She recently mentioned to me that she felt like the computer was a terrible time suck in her life and she was attempting to spend less time on it and more time getting things done like spending time with her sweet babies.  It got me to thinking about simplifying and what things I could scrap and be a little happier.

One of the commercials that was on during one of the football games (one of the seventeen that seem to be on at the same time...every time I look up there are different colors on the screen) said something about how many thoughts a person has a minute or something like that.  I joked to Mike that I have about three thoughts a day and they're all about pee, poop, and food.  Who needs to go potty?  Who is hungry?  Am I hungry?  When's the last time I peed?  And by the way, what's up with my children's new obsession with going to the bathroom with me every time I say I'm going.  Maybe I should announce that I'm going to the other room to eat broccoli, take a bag of it, and have five minutes of peace.  I'll have to try that.  Anyway, I digress.  Since becoming a mother, certain parts of life seem way more complicated than they used to be, like getting in and out of vehicles to go into stores.  But other things have gotten way simpler.  I used to spend a lot of time fretting over the future, over whether or not I'd ever find "the one."  I also spent more time that I'd like to admit organizing closets, arranging books on shelves, and shopping for deals on decorations inspired by HGTV shows, trying to make the house look like a magazine but not something I ever did anything in.  I'd even prop up the most difficult-looking piece of piano music on the piano to make it look like I was more talented than I am, which is not at all. 

Now that I've got three little ones, four years old and under, I spend very little if any of my day fretting about whether I'm living up to my full potential as a person.  I don't read self-help books focusing on whether I'm living my passion.  I don't mind so much if the house looks lived in.  I'm thrilled, in fact, that I finally have a full house of busy little humans making messes and living it up!  Yes, there are scuff marks on the wall, something they'd never tolerate in a decorating magazine.  And my linoleum floors aren't what a designer would choose, but man, are they easy to clean. I'm just happy to keep things simple. 

When we were trying to sell our townhome, we eliminated a bunch of the pictures and knick knacks to de-personalize it for showings, and I have to say, I loved not having to move those things around when I dusted, so we haven't put many of those things out once we moved.  I still enjoy the decorating shows, but I'm drawn to the streamlined designs now that seem efficient and kid-friendly. 

I'm interested in growing as a person and being creative, but I have to keep that side of life simple, too, or else I won't have time for what's really important, and that's having energy to keep up with my kiddos.  I'm taking a class at church, and it's great, but it's once a week and there's no homework.  That's doable!  I'm reading a book for pleasure, but it may take me three months to get through it, and that's OK.  I'm enjoying getting together with friends once a month or so to scrapbook, a great creative outlet for me, but if it takes me til Xavier is 2 to get his baby book done, that' fine, too.  I'm only doing the baby book, not one for each year of each kids' life, or I'd be overwhelmed and grumpy. 

Trying to keep up with three preschoolers is exhausting enough as it is.  I want to be present for them in these precious times I have with them.  Everyone keeps reminding me how fast the time passes.  These are all people with much older children, who know how it feels in retrospect.  I tell you some days seem to last an eternity, but I try to remember to savor those simple moments.  Here are the highlights from just one day of simple moments that I'm glad I was present to experience:

-Mikey dressing as Spiderman for our trip to Target and getting smiles and comments from children and adults alike.

-Celia making up a song about a princess eating a cookie and just belting it out with the passion of a televangelist as we drove in the van.

-Xavier pulling up on the little rocking chair that was Mike's when he was a little boy and just grinning up at us like he'd climbed Mt. Everest.

-Mikey insisting on giving me exactly three hugs and three kisses at bedtime, often kissing my belly or arm instead of my cheek...I'll take it!

-Celia making a new friend in the play zone at (you guessed it) Chick-Fil-A.  She makes friends more easily than anyone I've ever seen.  I envy that.

-Xavier splashing in the bubbles in the bathtub...there's nothing cuter than a chubby baby covered in bubbles.  Oh, maybe his baby buns covered in bubbles...that's cuter.

Yeah, I don't miss all the other clutter that used to fill up my brain on a daily basis.  I'm content to just focus on who needs to use the bathroom next and who needs their ration of Goldfish.  I'll read philosophy books another day.