The unofficial start to summer has come and gone. I hope everyone enjoyed the sunshine and time with family and friends!
We built Droolface a sand excavation site, complete with a sand/water table that his Mimi got him. He now has a designated area where the excavator can dig all sorts of holes without Mommy getting upset!
What we did:
1 – We selected a location that wasn’t being utilized. It was full of rocks. Grass didn’t grow there. We had been using it for our trash cans, but found a different spot for them. It was close to the house.
2 – We raked the area flat and removed some of the rocks.
3 – Pops raked some of the dirt into a berm along the designated edge of the excavation site.
4 – We purchased several bags of sand (I think we ended up using like 12 bags!) and block pavers for the edge.
5 – Pops set in the pavers into the dirt berm he created and made sure they were flat and secure.
6 – We filled in the area with sand. It is maybe two inches deep because we don’t mind if the dirt gets mixed in – that’s what excavating is all about!
7 – We set in the sand/water table so it was flat and secure.
8 – Added Droolface’s truck collection, some shovels and his excavator and he was ready to go!
Droolface spent hours playing in his new excavation site, giving Mommy some time to do other projects, like clean the cat vomit out of the basement – blech!
On being a perfect Mommy
Would the perfect Mommy please step forward?
Long weekends are fun for parents, but also extremely tiring. This Mommy had a least a few moments over the weekend where I was about ready to pull my hair out. Kids don’t listen. They cry or whine (especially tired nearly 3-year-olds) and they tell you to “Go Away.” It’s not always a pleasant experience. Let’s face it – kids can be little tyrants.
And, because we lose our cool, that doesn’t make us bad parents!
Droolface was stepping on my very last bit of patience by Monday when, I am pretty sure, the only word he knew was “No.” Seriously, if I had heard No one more time, I really might have had to go to the funny farm. And, it wouldn’t have been funny (har-har).
What do we do in these moments? I put the little demon in his room for a nap and walked away. I’m not sure how long it took him to fall asleep, because Mommy went out and laid in the sun. I do know that when I checked on him, he was peaceful and beautiful and all those bad feelings melted away.
I’m not a perfect Mommy, but I’m doing my best.
Sending love out to all you other Mommies – we survived a long weekend!
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Real Parents. Real Food. Real Fun.
Welcome to Adventures in Drool! Talking about green living, getting rid of plastics and toxic chemicals in our homes and raising happy kids on a budget. Join the conversation (www.adventuresindrool.com) and don't forget to Like us on Facebook!
Rachel Swick Mavity, author of the blog, lives with a reformed drooler (Droolface), who at age 3 loves to get muddy, drink homemade smoothies, giggle and flirt with old ladies. Her current drooler (Birdy) enjoys spitting up on work clothes and leaving drool trails as a way of showing her love.
Mavity previously worked as a journalist for seven years at newspapers from Pennsylvania to Maryland and Delaware. In Sussex County she worked for several newspapers, including the Cape Gazette. She lives in Lewes with her husband, Ryan Mavity, their son, "Droolface," and daughter, "Birdy."
