When Daddy's in Charge...

Having 3 kids is sometimes a challenge.  There's always someone needing something, a mess to be cleaned, a diaper needing changed...you get the idea.  And sometimes, when you have a little one who is mobile and gets into everything, it's easy to lose sight of her temporarily during the chaos.  Especially when you're Daddy! :-)

If any of you have read my blog before, then you should know that I am blessed with a great husband who is an amazing dad to our kids.  But he self-admittedly isn't able to accomplish anything else while watching our children.  I can usually do a few loads of laundry, wash dishes, clean bedrooms, cook dinner, etc. while keeping an eye on our offspring.

So after working in our yard for a little while, we came in to get cleaned up.  I managed to feed and change the littles, and at one point, all three kids were playing on the rug in our living room.  Phillip was sitting on the couch, so I thought it might be a good opportunity for me to take a quick shower.   With a promise that I'd make it quick, I headed upstairs to our bathroom.  About 3 minutes into my shower, the curtain was pulled back quickly, and there was my little Em standing in front of the tub, grinning like, "Aha!  I found you!"  She put the curtain back and disappeared, so I picked up the pace on my shower, realizing that she had crawled up the stairs and was now in my bedroom/bathroom alone.

When I got out of the shower, she heard me and came back around the curtain toward me, chomping away at something that was leaking out the sides of her mouth and with something squeezed tightly in her fist.  I said, "Em, show me your mouth!"  She opened up wide to show me a half-chewed Tums antacid that she was consuming like it was a tasty snack.  My heart slowed down a bit when I realized that Tums shouldn't harm her, but I still reached in a grabbed what was left, much to Emerson's dismay.  I also pried her fingers open to take the other one she was saving for later from her hand.  She had a few scattered on my room floor as well.

As I was cleaning up that mess, I noticed a clump of wet tissue paper in the floor and wet foot prints around it.  Suspiciously, I picked up the paper and followed the footsteps.  They trailed off, but I soon discovered where they led.  You got it - the toilet.  Ugh.  For whatever reason, my little princess is fascinated by the toilet.  I saw that the toilet lid was up, the trashcan lid was pulled off, and there were random things pulled from the trash sitting in the bottom of the toilet.  Disgusting!  I shouted down to Phillip that he needed to come clean out the toilet.  He said, obliviously, "Why?"  I asked, "Do you know where your daughter is?"  He got the point, and came upstairs where I was scouring Em's hands with soap and warm water, and he cleaned up the mess.  The funny thing (if you want to call it that) is that he didn't even notice Emerson was on the lam until I brought it to his attention.  I guess he forgot to count noses!

With a tiny bit of sarcasm, I said, "Wow, honey.  Imagine what she could have done if I would have left her unsupervised!"

I'm glad nothing more dangerous or destructive occurred.  I actually laughed after all was said and done.  But, I'm sure glad I'm NOT a single parent, and I think I'll give a little more specific instructions next time I decide to take a shower in the middle of the day!

:-)