WHAT IN THE WHAT???...

In the spirit of the election I am taking a poll. I just uttered a sentence to myself and I want to know if anyone else out there has ever spoken these words aloud: Are you ready?

"Why are there flyswatters (yes, plural) in my washer?"

As the mother of teen/tween daughters and the wife of a very mature man, I am having a very hard time figuring out how and why this is an event in my day. It would be perfectly understandable if my kids were small, but...

I have been a parent long enough to know that you 'eat a lot of crow' when you have kids (gross! what does that even mean? seriously not understanding. but, I digress) and that you will hear and say things that you never in a bazillionty years think you would hear or say. A classic story was from my cousin, 'A'. She was on the the phone with her SIL and the conversation went something like this...:

A: "blahbity blahbity blabbity blah"
S:  " hahahahaha" (cuz A is super funny)
A: "I KNOW"
S: "A, hold on. 'AUSTIN, QUIT PEEING ON YOUR SISTER'! Ok, I'm back. blahbity blabbity blah"

My favorite story from the Karacian archive is one that comes to mind every time I see a litter box. When Cate was potty training, she had to go and Ali wouldn't get off the 'training mechanism'. I heard them on the verge of meltdown (a 5 year old and a 2 year old whiny one) and headed toward the bathroom to break it up. I opened the door just in time to see Cate taking matters in her own hands and doing her business in the litter box. Pretty genius idea, if you ask me, but I may be a little bias.

Things like this happen everyday to parents and we take it in stride and, in the process, give others great stories to remember for years to come. I bet 'S' doesn't even remember that, but I will never forget 'A' in hysterics over that story.

As mystified as I am by finding these swatters in the washer, I realize that since my kids have gotten older I miss these oddities that are normal with young'uns in the house. However, Cate is very good at letting me find the milk in the pantry (she is not really a morning person, therefore she pretty much sleep walks through her first hour vertical) and I laugh every time. When we had a home phone, it was nothing for me to find the phone in the fridge a handful of times a month. THESE are the memories that I am so thankful to have burned into my brain.

Well, I must get back to cleaning/continuing my scavenger hunt! Have a groovy day and ENJOY THE MEMORIES THAT YOUR KIDS ARE MAKING FOR YOU!