Getting Ready for Mother's Day
You Learn Something New Every Day
By: PJ Fiala
Most people have heard the saying, “You learn something new every day.” I’ve used that saying more times than I care to think about. Usually, it follows something that I wished I would have known before I did the thing that made me learn.
Case in point. I’ve learned that when a wayward, brand new black sock is laundered with your whites, you end up with a new gray wardrobe. Or, when you’re cooking supper at the same time you’re checking your facebook newsfeed for the first time in two days, chicken doesn’t stop cooking itself when it’s done.
My biggest lesson was 22 years ago. Issue; what happens when you leave two new chocolate bars in a van with a two year old, even while standing outside the van speaking to a friend while waiting for my five year old to come out of school? I got a chocolate covered two year old in a locked van.
Yes, he had been spying the two chocolate bars I purchased for him and his brother. Said chocolate bars were for after dinner treats if the boys ate their supper. (Yes, I often resorted to bribery. Show me a parent who hasn’t!) As soon as I was engaged with my friend, said two year old locked the van doors with the push of a button and proceeded to eat, yes, BOTH of the chocolate bars. I was begging him through the window to unlock the doors. He continued to eat while looking at me and shaking his head no!
Right about that time, my five year old was released from school. He walked up to the van and started screaming that his brother was eating his candy bar. Did I get attention you ask? Why yes, I did get attention, a lot of attention. It didn’t take long before a crowd of parents were peering through the windows laughing at my chocolate covered two year old, wiping his dirty little hands and mouth all over my light gray cloth interior and refusing to unlock the doors. Luckily, my husband was only a block away. (Such is life in a small town.) A friend walked to the store (we’ll call this bcp, before cell phones) to get the second set of keys from my husband while I continued to attract attention trying to calm my five year old down and calculating how long it was going to take to clean the interior of my van. (A whole day! Did you know chocolate can seep into the inside of your seat belt buckle?)
My husband arrived with the keys, laughing hysterically and took my five year old home in his clean car, while I belted my candy coated toddler into his car seat and drove home in the choco-mobile.
What did I learn that day? Several things. Buy candy bars during regular weekly shopping trips and hide them. Never and I mean NEVER, leave a two year old in the van with the keys inside (even if I’m right there!) And, it takes a whole day, several buckets of hot water and a mild detergent, to clean chocolate off of car seats, floors, seat belts, windows, well everything.
Now you tell me, what have you learned in your life as a mom?
By: PJ Fiala
Most people have heard the saying, “You learn something new every day.” I’ve used that saying more times than I care to think about. Usually, it follows something that I wished I would have known before I did the thing that made me learn.
Case in point. I’ve learned that when a wayward, brand new black sock is laundered with your whites, you end up with a new gray wardrobe. Or, when you’re cooking supper at the same time you’re checking your facebook newsfeed for the first time in two days, chicken doesn’t stop cooking itself when it’s done.
My biggest lesson was 22 years ago. Issue; what happens when you leave two new chocolate bars in a van with a two year old, even while standing outside the van speaking to a friend while waiting for my five year old to come out of school? I got a chocolate covered two year old in a locked van.
Yes, he had been spying the two chocolate bars I purchased for him and his brother. Said chocolate bars were for after dinner treats if the boys ate their supper. (Yes, I often resorted to bribery. Show me a parent who hasn’t!) As soon as I was engaged with my friend, said two year old locked the van doors with the push of a button and proceeded to eat, yes, BOTH of the chocolate bars. I was begging him through the window to unlock the doors. He continued to eat while looking at me and shaking his head no!
Right about that time, my five year old was released from school. He walked up to the van and started screaming that his brother was eating his candy bar. Did I get attention you ask? Why yes, I did get attention, a lot of attention. It didn’t take long before a crowd of parents were peering through the windows laughing at my chocolate covered two year old, wiping his dirty little hands and mouth all over my light gray cloth interior and refusing to unlock the doors. Luckily, my husband was only a block away. (Such is life in a small town.) A friend walked to the store (we’ll call this bcp, before cell phones) to get the second set of keys from my husband while I continued to attract attention trying to calm my five year old down and calculating how long it was going to take to clean the interior of my van. (A whole day! Did you know chocolate can seep into the inside of your seat belt buckle?)
My husband arrived with the keys, laughing hysterically and took my five year old home in his clean car, while I belted my candy coated toddler into his car seat and drove home in the choco-mobile.
What did I learn that day? Several things. Buy candy bars during regular weekly shopping trips and hide them. Never and I mean NEVER, leave a two year old in the van with the keys inside (even if I’m right there!) And, it takes a whole day, several buckets of hot water and a mild detergent, to clean chocolate off of car seats, floors, seat belts, windows, well everything.
Now you tell me, what have you learned in your life as a mom?
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