I used to use toilet paper that I unrolled myself. I no longer have to do that. As soon as I replace the empty roll with a new roll, Lila senses this and immediately comes to disperse it throughout the house. She sends it rolling down our 20 foot hallway. She eats some. She wipes her hair and her face with it. Public restrooms actually have a perk now- whenever I have to use one, I feel just a bit special because I get to use brand new, perfectly rolled up toilet paper, instead of picking a piece from our basket of crumpled overflowing stock.
I used to be able to take out a recipe and start cooking right away. I now find myself spending several minutes to locate each needed kitchen gadget.
"Anabelle, where is my ladle?"
"I don't know"
"You had it last week"
"What's a ladle?"
"Where is your fish pond?"
"Oh, well, that's in my room"
"Please go get it for me"
She brings me my ladle. The whole inside is covered in hot pink crayon.
"What is this?"
"Oh those are just my fishies"
"Fabulous. Now where is my whisk?
"Your what?"
"Your magic powers wand. Go find me your wand"
And so it continues until I reclaim, at least for the night, enough of my items to get through a task.
And my bed time routine is longer now too. You think it is finally that moment when you get to climb into bed and sleep, only to realize that 16 stuffed carnivores have been tucked in there for hours. Sometimes we laugh to find more and more things in our bed as we keep nestling in. And we now know better than to toss them on the floor next to our bed. That would not be worth the tragic breakdown you will witness in the morning. Better to take a minute and tuck them snugly on the futon.
I used to be able to load the dishwasher whenever there were dishes in the sink. Now I must only load it if it is between the hours of 12-2 on weekdays and 1-3 on weekends (the napping hours of the sworn enemy of productivity). Otherwise you are certain to have a Lila unloading faster than you can load. It takes her about 45 seconds to make her way there from the time she hears you begin. And in an instant there are silverware strewn about the entire kitchen and you find yourself trying to free beaters that she jammed in the wiring of the dishwasher just to get it closed so you can stop the madness. And excitedly, she now knows how to open it herself and will just climb in, have a seat, and start throwing.
And there is just no end to it- my shoes are lined up in Anabelle's room and stuffed full of Lila's socks ( I can find neither when I need them), we have no band aids because Anabelle thinks "Band-aid" is a synonym for "sticker". My chapsticks have all but been eaten or sucked to death and my phone is constantly being taken over and stashed secretly by Lila, sometimes missing for a week at a time. On average I pick up at least 56 hair contraptions of one kind or another each day. My purse is full of crumbs and snacks and books and bouncy balls and diapers.
And on and on and on....
Never in my life did I dream that my days would be filled with so much joy and laughter because of these little people. I've said it before, I'll say it again, Aint nothing better than being a momma.
