Cooking Up A Mess

There are times that I am exhausted and just want to lay down and relax. Sometimes that's okay, but today we had people in and out of the house because we're having a few things fixed up.

In the chaos of the day the child gate to the kitchen was set aside so that contractors and the home owners could come and go more easily. I took Kai into the living room and got her some lunch as I sat down to take a well deserved break. I close my eyes for a minute and suddenly the house was too quiet. Surely all parents can appreciate that noise is good. Noise means your child is happily playing in an area that you have already determined as safe.

Kids however don't feel that multi-colored blocks and fluffy animals are where the real fun is at though. Real fun is found in empty containers and that drawer of miscellaneous things you haven't quite gotten around to organizing yet.

I feel that I've done a decent job with "kid proofing" my house, but the gate just wasn't there today.

So, I'm laying on the couch listening for my daughter as I think she's happily playing with her toys and eating her mac-n-cheese when the room goes quiet. I'm talking "horror movie - someone is going to jump out behind you, quiet", the quiet that screams "I'M UP TO NO GOOD!" and then a giggle... I leap to my feet and run into the only room I can imagine would elicit a giggle from my daughter, the kitchen.

What I saw made me just stop and smile. I swear there are some times that she does stuff that I know I should be telling her "no" and discouraging her from repeating but she was so cute sitting among our groceries. I actually snapped a few pictures and called Richie in to see what mischief she had gotten into before taking her out, putting up the kid gate, and sweeping up the sugar she had spilled all over the kitchen floor.

I don't know if its just me but sometimes I can't help but smile at her messes. I did have to clean up quite a mess, and I did have quite a scare, but kids are bound to push the limits. The second that kid gate was gone Kailee wanted to be where she wasn't allowed. She wanted to play with the bowls and cans of food that normally are hidden away from her sticky fingers. When the cleaning was done I picked her up and took her back outside to play with a promise that soon she and I will bake some cookies and she can get as messy in the kitchen as her little heart desires!