The Ordinary Moments 21/52 – Mischief Makers

I absolutely love the ages that Ethan and Megs are at right now. They both know how to express themselves, they know what they like and dislike, they choose their own style and it makes me beam with joy to see how close they are, what little buddies they are…a real team. I was with a friend this week when she commented and said “wow you can really see how close they are can’t you?”. Whilst it made me feel so happy it also made me a little sad that I don’t make more time to see those moments and see their closeness, feel the love and give myself a little pat on the back that we are doing something right for them to be so happy and to be showing such love and friendship toward one another.
Yes they are close, and a cute little team but Mr Smith and I would probably say too close sometimes, as the only down side to this little sibling alliance is that there are moments when they reap absolute havoc – egging each other on, full of (not so) good ideas and whispering in corners about “plans”! I really love to be a stay at home mum, I love a reasonably flexible week and that I get to make so many amazing memories, witness so many developments, teach them and learn a heck of a lot in the process about my limits and character. Most days are great and they run to plan; we have adventures and lots of fun and accomplish so much. Then there are those days that almost send me over the edge, the downside to being a stay at home mum and having to deal with the dramas alone, those day they choose to be the creators of mischief. I often say to Nath that they were pretty “naughty” but sometimes I don’t think it is, when I’ve calmed down from a psycho mum episode I realise that they genuinely thought it was good and never intended harm.

This was true several times this week; Firstly was when we shamefully left soft play as they both decided to take a walker up the slide and lob it to the bottom – impressed by their strength and agile physiques…not so much by the behaviour. As the owner yelled “whose children are they please?” as I was mid convo with a friend I realised our session was OVER!
Later in the week on the way home from a museum outing, I thought it might be nice to quickly nip into H&M and BHS in search of a new swimsuit, they thought it would be nice to play ‘tag’…Megs ran, Ethan chased, Ethan slipped and bashed his face on the security gates in the door way. REALLY??? Is this really happening? You’ve just had a mint day out, chose to play in the Lego shop and Apple store and you can’t stand still for 2 mins whilst I look at the small swimwear section?!?!?!?! A 15 min walk carrying him screaming through the city centre and Megs chucking her balloon in the road and we made it one piece to A&E! Thankfully it was quiet and were seen within the hour with the gratefully received diagnosis of some bruising and no concussion or fracture – PHEW!
I find moments like this so challenging and they seem to be so frequent with these 2 mischief makers, I hate when people state the obvious or just seem rude and say “you have your hands full there love”. I wouldn’t say so, I think they are just thrill seekers and spirited. Yes I’ve lost count of the amount of “existing accident” forms I’ve had to fill out at School and on challenging days I can’t wait til bedtime but Id never say my hands are “full” and it  was a relief to hear the Dr say ” its obvious they are active kids”.

I still have to remind myself though that these are just moments. Ordinary moments that test us and build us as parents. The moments in life we will look back on and laugh about…tell at their weddings and to their kids. I think its so easy as a mother sometimes to only remember how hard these early years are, how it upset me the day that someone implied I had bad kids or a lack of control with them. Its easy to take it to heart and remember the naughty behaviour they exhibited, the moments I had to put them in time out or the day they made me cry with being so defiant, but then I think that this is so normal, I know it is but I have to remind myself it is. I also have to remember all the amazing moments we have along the way, and there are far more of them then the negative ones, we have more laughs than stress, more fun than time outs. Yes they are mischief makers but they are also 4 & 2 year old kids, full of life, full of love and so very funny! They are certainly inventive, creative and have huge imaginations with some of the things they do and I am pleased to say that they are mine (ours) and that they keep me on my toes, push me to be better, be more creative, and be a more loving and patient person. They make me beam with pride and I adore them so much.