Olivia's Hard Day

Olivia had a really hard day yesterday.

It started out okay. We took Joseph to school. We came home and watched "Between the Lions," which is her favorite TV show on PBS kids. She played well with her little friend Eve. But when it was time to pick Joseph up from school, our day suddenly got interesting.

When we got to the parking lot of Joseph's school Olivia said:

"Mom, I don't want Joseph to be my brother anymore."

Me: "What? Why not?"

Olivia: "Cause. It's okay if Joseph gets lost today."

Me (now completely shocked): But, don't you love Joseph?

Olivia: "NO."

Me: "Well, I love him. Don't you want him to be part of our family"?

Olivia: "Fine."

I realized she must be getting used to having alone time with me at last and doesn't want Joseph coming in messing with her "mommy time."

I sent both kids downstairs to play while I made lunch. All I heard was:

Joseph: "Stop it Olivia, that hurts. Hey, that was my toy. Don't! I am

playing right here." And on and on and on.

Until I heard:

Olivia: "Mommy, I'm poopy."

I ran to Olivia who was standing in the middle of the family room with poop running down her pants onto her feet. The site of poop and getting all messy and stinky made Olivia scream bloody murder. I stood there for a moment trying to decide what to do. I could try and clean her up right there or try and get her to a bathtub upstairs. I decided to take my chances, picked her up and rain upstairs as fast as I could. Lucky for me, I didn't spread the mess....until we got to the bathroom. Taking her clothes off was no easy feat and she ended up covered in poop. (anyone grossed out yet?)

I cleaned her up as well as I could with wipes and then stuck her in the tub and doused her with water. It was rinse and repeat for about 5 minutes. Finally I got her cleaned off and then had to make her wait while I cleaned the tub so she could take a "real" bath. As the tub was filling up, I was thinking how lucky I was to have missed making a bigger mess going up the stairs.

Then Joseph came in the bathroom. "Mom, there is poop on the stairs."

Sigh.

I put Joseph in charge of Olivia while I ran downstairs to inspect the damage. What a mess. Poop everywhere. (I did rent a steam cleaner today:) Just when I thought things were calming down, I heard Olivia wailing her head off upstairs. I ran back upstairs and found out that Olivia had been jumping in the tub, (at Joseph's encouragement) fallen, and hit her head. So, to say the

least, washing her hair was quite a challenge.

To make a very long day seem shorter, I will tell you the rest of the day was just the same. Lots of crying, a lot of hurts, some macaroni up Olivia's nose, but a lot of funny moments. Surprisingly, I had a good sense of humor about it all.

I couldn't help but laugh my head off when Olivia finally calmed down, came and sat on my lap and said, "Mom, I need to put some SUN SCREAM on your face." So cute.

I think most days as a mom are like this. But this one seemed to stick out more than the rest. Maybe it's because all the great moms out there, who are great examples (& whose blogs I stalk) are finally wearing off on me. You are all great examples and wonderful mothers!!!

Now, if I can get Olivia to sleep in her own bed tonight, life would be almost perfect!!!!