All iN a DaY's WoRk

To describe Mason as a 'busy child' is an understatement. A HUGE understatement. There isn't a word in the English language for the things this child does. This was our day today (only from 3 o'clock on, before that we were safely at church where he was under somebody else's supervision :). Mom was in the office working on the finishing touches on Grandma's photo calendar for Christmas while the kids were playing ever-so-nicely and quietly upstairs. Bad sign. Mason had found the water colors from preschool and filled both trays with water (which if you have ever done that mixes all of the colors together and forms thick black water), then poured them down the hallway. On the carpet. I put him in the bath to get the paint off of himself while I scrubbed the carpet - did I mention that we JUST got the carpets cleaned? While in the bath he managed to get more water outside the tub than inside. While I cleaned the bathroom floor he blew out a scented candle (that was up supposedly out of his reach, but he had managed to pull a bar stool over to the counter to reach it) and poured the wax all over the animals from the children's nativity scene in the living room. Somehow he managed this without burning himself. Lucky for him. At least he left Baby Jesus alone. He then ripped a wad of paper towels that I had used to clean up an earlier mess into tiny shreds and spread them across the floor. While I loaded the towels from the paint and bathroom cleanup into the washer and switched the laundry loads, he filled up a pitcher with water at both the kitchen sink AND the refrigerator, both times dumping it all over the floor. While I cleaned that up he found my cell phone, stripped the cover off, and put them in separate 'hiding places.' I received a text, which gave away my phone's hiding place, so I asked him where my phone cover was. He told me it was in the garbage. At least he tells the truth. Unfortunately I had just dumped old food from the fridge in the garbage. On top of the phone cover. Thanks Mason. Thank goodness for Clorox wipes. Without any further catastrophes I managed to make a quick dinner, we ate dinner as a family, read stories, and got ready for bed. At the end of it all he gave me the biggest sweet hug and kiss and told me how much he loved me. And you know what? I believe him. He may LOVE to get into trouble, but I love that little boy more than he knows, and as much as I threaten it lately, I really wouldn't sell him to the zoo. Really. Not even on a day like today. Not even for a million dollars. I will take paint-stained carpets (yes, they are supposedly washable water-colors, but try telling that to the blue/black spots down my hallway), water spills, wax-covered nativities, and garbage smeared phone covers if it means one more hug and kiss from my sweet baby. Now I just need to remember that WHILE I am cleaning up his messes, not just at the end of the day when I watch his sweet little sleeping face!