When Lauren was little, we'd go places and that child was clean, combed and well shod.
Then Ben came along I still tried in those areas and I usually did alright, although he is a much bigger munger than Lauren will ever be!
I would see other kids that had gunk on their faces, or their hair was a mess and think "how could that mom let her kids out of the house looking like that?"Or better still was the shoeless child...I wondered "how hard is it to put shoes on your kids"?
Oh, if only I knew what was lying in wait for me with my two youngest monsters I would have NEVER cast a confused or disparaging glance...EVER!
Rachel insists on doing her own hair many days, and the other days I have to wonder if it's really worth the fight (her screaming from the brushing leaves my ears ringing for the rest of the day)! So the result is a lovely do like this:
Yeah, we've left the house with her hair looking that nice before! I keep telling myself it's great that she wants to be so independent...everyday I tell myself that (someday I'll believe it)!For as awful as that might seem, Hayden is the child that has thrown me completely off kilter. I will dress him, wash his face, etc... and by the time we make it to a store (15 minutes later) he looks like this.
Sometimes it's far worse! Luckily for me I can at least shave his head so I don't have to add crazy hair to the list of messy face and filthy shirt!
And shoes? There a few weeks this summer that he hid ALL of his RIGHT shoes. So he either went shoeless or he wore a mismatched pair of left shoes. That seems fairly minor, since half of the summer I would look out the windows and this is what I saw
His cute little clothes were scattered across the front lawn (usually dripping wet) and he was running happy and free around my yard in nothing more than his skivvies.*SIGH*
Now I truly understand how those mothers so long ago let their children leave the house "looking like that". It's called child independence, my sanity and a serious of lack of time (I don't how many times have I told them "hurry up, grab your shoes & get in the car, we're late" only to find upon arrival that someone forgot their shoes-grr).
So if you ever see me at the store with my kids looking completely disheveled, please know I'm not a bad parent, or a slob; I'm simply fighting a battle I can't seem to win!
I love my messy monsters!
