Perfection Pending

By Meredith Ethington

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Chandler Childhood In the Motherhood Manic Mondays Motherhood Parenting

The REAL Reason Having Children is So Expensive

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My house is frequently full of kids these days. I was breaking up some rowdy boys that were being a little too crazy in my tiny living room the other day. Just as I uttered the words, “OK! Everybody outside if you’re going to be this crazy!” I turned my back and my two year old picks up his Thomas the train toy and throws it at our living room window like a major league pitcher.

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I sent home every neighborhood child immediately so they didn’t see my epic freak out that I just knew was coming. The Nolan Ryan wannabe (sorry my baseball knowledge is limited) was sent to time out, and I managed to not scream and yell. I gave him a stern “No! No!” and a good talking to afterward about throwing things. He cried. I didn’t. So, I guess, considering the circumstances, we all did pretty good. In a matter of seconds, this boy managed to cause about $400 in damage to the main window of the front of my house. It isn’t the diapers, and the food, and the clothes that are expensive. It’s the fact that they are inherently destructive. That’s why children make parents very, very poor.

Now I understand why my mom was so angry after my brother tried to show off his strength to his little sisters by lifting our coffee table up on its side causing the glass to fall out and break.

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Good thing I shared a free printable quote yesterday about being thankful for our circumstances instead of trying to count the “things” we are grateful for. I’m going to recite that quote in my head every time I look at my broken window this week.

But, the thing that kills me? He doesn’t seem too ashamed of his handy work. Little stinker. Is it too early to make him get a job?

************

This post is a parenting blog hop! Link up your parenting post this week!! Going to join us? Here are the “rules” (Feel free to follow them loosely):

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2. Grab MY button found below and add it to your post or sidebar, and then come back and link up with us here. It’s that easy! I’ll try to promote your post on social media by pinning, tweeting, and sharing.

3. Visit the other awesome bloggers that are also linking up and leave comments on their posts!

 Perfection Pending


39 Comments

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Comments

  1. Ana Lynn says

    April 7, 2014 at 5:37 am

    Let’s see, so far I have to replace 2 cups, a bowl, 3 plates, a vase and a night light. Thankfully no broken windows or glass doors/tables… yet!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 7, 2014 at 8:07 am

      Yes, my dishes are pretty sad right now too! 🙂

      Reply
  2. zeudytigre says

    April 7, 2014 at 5:48 am

    I think you did very well not to explode!

    It is so frustrating when kids do not understand the cost of their actions. One of my boys used to go way over the top if any of his possessions were damaged, yet showed little respect for things I valued. It was hard to stay calm and reasonable, especially when he did not seem sorry for his actions and tried to justify what he did.

    Hopefully your little man did not intend to break the window, not that this helps with the hefty bill.

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 7, 2014 at 8:08 am

      Yeah. I definitely don’t think he even realized what would happen. 2 years old is hard to grasp that concept! It was just a matter of time before he did something like this. He practically came out of the womb throwing things. I think he will be a pitcher some day. For real.

      Reply
  3. Michelle says

    April 7, 2014 at 5:55 am

    You seem to have done an amazing job keeping your calm with him. I don’t know if I would have been able to keep my cool so well! It’s so true though. My boys have destroyed more toys than I can even remember, just from being rough and not playing with them like they’re supposed to. I even found a perfectly drawn “S” on my car door from one of them trying to spell their name with some kind of sharp object. Grrr!!! I’m glad you were able to keep perspective and even snap a pic–so good for the soul not to get too angry:)

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 7, 2014 at 8:09 am

      Well, the pic happened several days after the fact. I didn’t want him to think I was rewarding him for bad behavior by posing him next to the evidence. Although, seeing the picture, he probably thought that anyway!

      Reply
  4. Katie @ Pick Any Two says

    April 7, 2014 at 7:07 am

    Super impressed at your ability to remain calm. My son is still a bit young and hence isn’t TOO destructive (unless you count the couch fabric being totally ruined by spit up), but I know it’s coming…my bank account better get ready!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 7, 2014 at 8:09 am

      Yes! Get ready!! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Natalie D says

    April 7, 2014 at 10:41 am

    Okay, that photo is priceless!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 7, 2014 at 12:16 pm

      Thank you! Thank goodness he’s cute!

      Reply
  6. Risa says

    April 7, 2014 at 10:50 am

    Believe or not, I have three kids and all they’ve really managed to destroy are the blinds on the windows. We even got our full deposit back from our previous apartment where my 7 year old and 16 month old were living. Hopefully I don’t jinx myself by saying this because my son is not two yet!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 7, 2014 at 12:16 pm

      hahaha! You TOTALLY just did. 😉 I mean, I hope not too.

      Reply
  7. The Waiting says

    April 7, 2014 at 11:42 am

    Last week one of my friends’ kids drew on a car at the park with a rock. I will be referring him to this post ;D

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 7, 2014 at 12:17 pm

      Yikes. Yes, my 5 year old thought it was cool once to throw a rock at a car passing through a parking lot. THANK GOODNESS they didn’t stop.

      Reply
  8. 3 Bros Ringmaster ~ Tracey Goss says

    April 7, 2014 at 2:25 pm

    So happy to have found you Meredith! I too have disembarked the “crazy train” called parenting perfection! I’d add your button to my site but I can’t figure out how to do it (lol!) One of my sons left his mark on the paint job of our mini-van. With magnet in hand, he left a 360 degree scratch around the van’s circumference. I’ve lived with the scratch for the past five years – which is five years less than the stretch marks he gave me!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 7, 2014 at 3:25 pm

      I’m happy you found me too!! Ummm…I dread the day my kids try to draw on the car. They already climb on the roof when I’m not around!! Kids are SO crazy! Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  9. Mary Widdicks says

    April 7, 2014 at 3:07 pm

    Oh my goodness! I’m always worried for our windows…we have a lot of flying trains in our house :-/ What a perfect Manic Monday post though, so…silver lining. We spent the day in the ER yesterday with my three year old with an infected dog bite on his hand. So I have a pretty good Manic Monday post brewing it my head right now. Hopefully I’ll have the energy to get it written down tonight!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 7, 2014 at 3:24 pm

      Yikes! I hope he’s OK. Was it your dog or someone else’s??? My cat took a chunk out of my 2 year old’s face a little while back. Not fun. We had to do a round of antibiotics because it got infected too.

      Reply
      • Mary Widdicks says

        April 7, 2014 at 7:38 pm

        It was my mom’s dog. It was just a series of bad luck, I think.

        Reply
    • Mary Widdicks says

      April 7, 2014 at 7:37 pm

      Ok, I didn’t finish the post I wanted to finish, so I decided to post a different one. Still Manic Monday material though 🙂

      Reply
      • Meredith says

        April 7, 2014 at 7:46 pm

        Pretty much anything having to do with parenting is free game! Going to try and read now if the kids will let me. 🙂

        Reply
  10. Jaime says

    April 7, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    I’m so sorry about your window, but your little guy is adorable! I feel your pain. Today we replaced our horrible, embarrassing, ugly, destroyed-by-our-children couch and love seat with 2 new leather couches. We hope that the leather will hold up better to puke, pee, and all other disgusting body fluids. We also bought the protection plan for once!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 7, 2014 at 5:02 pm

      Nice! I just have given up on the furniture all together. Sigh.

      Reply
  11. Louise says

    April 7, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    That photo is really quite … awesome? It’s like the evil genius “Yeah … But I’m cute, right? So what’s the issue?” photo. You were very amazing to not completely lose it. I suspect I would have….

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 7, 2014 at 8:45 pm

      well, you can be just as much of a scary mommy in a quiet way as you can when you yell. So, I’m not sure we should be handing out the mother of the year award either. 😉

      Reply
  12. AwesomelyOZ says

    April 7, 2014 at 9:03 pm

    Yikes – $400! Thankfully I have a son but he’s nowhere near destructive probably because he’s an only-child and even his cousins are calm. Lol. He loves his video games, otherwise it’s soccer and that’s an outdoorsy activity. 😀 So far, no damage but we still have a long way to go considering he’s barely 7. Happy Monday Meredith! -Iva

    Reply
  13. jennifer groeber says

    April 8, 2014 at 7:18 am

    People in glass houses, right? Ha! I was listening to This American Life on NPR last week and there was a conversation about how “good kids go bad” called Bad Baby. They suggested the opposite- that inherent in a a toddling child is a sort of narcissistic mayhem (they may have used the word sociopath.) Not so much empathy and loads of impulses running wild. Now your little stinker seems way sweeter than the tumbling toddlers to which they referred (wink, wink) but the good news is, they gain that empathy from us as they grow! So good job not yelling (I would have!) Hee hee.

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 8, 2014 at 8:23 am

      Haha! I believe that. Nacissistic mayhem describes my 2 year old perfectly! It’s kind of nice to think that we actually teach them things that they learn too! 🙂

      Reply
  14. normaleverydaylife says

    April 8, 2014 at 7:50 am

    This post makes me laugh and oddly, gives me some comfort! My 16 year old son just got in his first, and hopefully last, fender bender. They can be expensive and causing destruction at any age! 🙂

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 8, 2014 at 8:23 am

      Oh my gosh! I can’t imagine when they start driving the stress I will feel! Yikes!

      Reply
  15. Kelly McKenzie says

    April 8, 2014 at 10:05 am

    Nooooo! I am so sorry about the window. However, have to say that is an adorable picture of your son looking at it. Reminds me of the time my brother was telling us about a movie he’d recently watched. We were sitting around the dining room table and he reached up to grab the chandelier jobby above the table. “So the actor grabbed the light like this and ….” as he said it my brother grabbed the light right out of the ceiling. I’ll never forget my dad’s face as the subsequent ball of fire shot directly at him. Yes, that was one expensive dinner at home that night …

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 8, 2014 at 12:18 pm

      Ha! Oh my gosh. Well, it happens to all of us, I guess. Although, found out today that our bill is looking more like $700. Geez. Windows are expensive!

      Reply
  16. Kim says

    April 9, 2014 at 3:35 pm

    Oh boy. I’m pretty sure the couch will be the first fatality. Between the smears of sticky fingers, boogers, and its use as a gymnastics mat, I don’t know how long it’ll last. Maybe I’ll just replace it with an actual gymnastics mat.

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      April 9, 2014 at 5:08 pm

      Ha! Yes. Couches get disgusting pretty fast!

      Reply

Trackbacks

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Welcome! I’m Meredith.

Mom. Writer. Diet Coke connoisseur. Born and raised Texan. Lover of real talk and laughter with a hint of sarcasm mixed in.

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Meredith Ethington

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I already miss so much. The gummy smiles of babes without any teeth. The squeaky voices of 2 year olds. The babbling of a baby that’s just trying so hard to say mama. The grammar mistakes my kids make when they’re talking that I don’t have the heart to correct because I love it too much. 

I miss a lot about those younger years that have already slipped away. My youngest is sick, much like in this picture, but he is too big to snuggle in my arms now when he’s running a fever. 

Today I had the thought, what if this is it? What if this IS the happiest I’ll ever be?
For a moment, I lingered in that thought as I stood over my sink and did the dishes. I started to cry.
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The state of our economy. Social media. People being unemployed. People being racist and homophobic. The debate over politics. People judging people. ALLLLLL of it. 

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It’s the one millionth day of January but Spring feels so far away. 

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Some of you wanted sources on my last reel where I Some of you wanted sources on my last reel where I said we only need to be getting it right 30% of the time for our kids to have secure attachments. Well I wrote a bit more about the concept of being the “good enough mother” a term coined in the 50’s by a researcher and pediatrician. Check it all out in my newest post. Link in profile.
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