let it roll

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this Mommy-of-three thing. The key to keeping my sanity was admitting that Flora and Scout do not need to be micromanaged quite as much as I thought they did. And yes, that is just a nicer way of saying that they don't need me as much as I thought they did. Well, obviously they still need me, but they don't need me to follow them around to make sure they don't eat glue or fall down the stairs. They are past the glue-eating phase . . . and on to slightly less dangerous mischief.

I've learned to "let it roll," meaning to let unimportant issues roll off my back like water rolls off a duck's back. Sorry I had to explain that but I used that phrase a few days ago and the person I was talking to had no idea what it meant to "let it roll." But anyway....

Letting it roll means not caring that Flora's room is ALWAYS a disastrous mess.

It means being okay with the fact that Scout never actually falls asleep in his bed.

Flora runs around in her panties half the time and there are stickers all over my walls and it doesn't really bother me. I am also undisturbed by the fact that Flora once used her walls as a canvas during naptime. I'm sure Mr. Clean will erase all this crayon, but I'm not really in any hurry to do it.

Flora and Scout emptied all their dresser drawers and lined them up in the hallway to create "steps" and I just let it happen. It was one of those things that wasn't really dangerous and they were having so much fun playing and working together that I didn't see any reason to intervene.

I try to keep the house somewhat clean but most days it is a disaster until Flora and Scout go to bed and I pick up all the toys. However, last week Flora decided that she was going to clean up the living room for me. Maybe she was tired of me letting things go! She and Scout worked together to pick up all the toys and couch pillows and got the room looking really great. Then they cleaned Scout's room together and then cleaned Flora's room too! I was silent and stayed out of their way while they were working. I definitely didn't want to break up THAT party! After they were all finished I asked Flora why she decided to clean. She smiled a big smile and said, "Because it make you SO happy, Mommy!"
Oh, how sweet!!! Of course, then she asked if she could watch a Dora, probably KNOWING that I couldn't possibly say no after all the work she had done for me . . . and I couldn't, but why would I? I am absolutely willing to negotiate if she wants to trade an hour of cleaning for 20 minutes of Dora. I can definitely let a few extra episodes of Dora roll off my conscience!!