Way Behind...

... seems to be the new norm.
I just wanted to post a little tidbit of my afternoon (before I forget and while I still have the right perspective... as in: don't let the little things get to you, and cherish your children even in the oddest of circumstances. :) )

I had JUST poured myself a cup of afternoon coffee and baked a chocolate chip cookie (or three :) ) in the toaster oven to sit down for the first time today and enjoy 10 minutes of quiet. The kids were playing nicely outside with sticks and spray bottles, I was waiting for a load of laundry to be done so I could hang it outside with the other load already drying in the wind.
Then Rhea comes in, so cute with her sunglasses on. :)
R: "Hi Mom. I need to wash my hands."
M: "Ok." (back to my coffee)
*a few minutes of silence*
R: "Mom, please help me."
M: "Ok, I'm coming."
I walk into the bathroom, and Rhea says somewhat guiltily, but with a little smile on her face: "Look, Mom!" There she stands ... in a yellow puddle.
Here is Rhea's attempt at consoling me:
R: "It's ok, Mom."
M: "No, it's not ok."
R: "Why not?"
M: "Because it makes me sad when you go peepee in your pants. You need to go peepee on the toilet."
R: "It's ok."
M: "No, it's not ok."
R: "A little bit ok?"
M: "No. Not really."
R, after a moment of thought: "Phewf, THAT was CLOSE... right?"
M: "Yeah?"
R: "Yeah, that was close!" (How can I not smile in my head while I see my 2-year-old in the middle of a puddle of pee, saying, "phewf, that was CLOSE!" ?!)
...then...
R: "New pants?"
M: "Yes, Mama will get you new pants."
R: "Ok. Thanks, Mom." ... "Mama, are you ok?"
M: "Yes. What do you need to do when you need to go peepee?"
R: "Nothing."
M: "No, you need to call Mama, and say, 'Mama, quick, quick, I need to go peepee.' And then we go to the toilet."
R: "Oh, ok."

After I got new undies, pants, and socks (and put the shoes by the washer), she saw that the socks were folded together into one.
R: "Mom, look, the socks! I fix them, ok?" (and proceded to take them apart) "Look, another one."
While I took one sock to put on her foot, she said: "Here, Mom, I hold the other one for you, k?"

None of these interchanges in and of themselves are all that unusual, but the whole situation together struck me as very sweet (despite the puddle on the floor). :) Alas, my coffee is cold, and my cookie is hardly warm anymore either. Just as I have everything cleaned up and want to send Rhea back outside, Lucia comes in and says, "I was SO lonely, where were you?" and decided she was done outside (which means Rhea is done too). Lucia even made up a lonely song: "I'm so sad, I wish I was glad, but no one is joining me." (I might have forgotten the last line...)
So much for eating a cookie in solitude, and right then I also heard Alexa's little squawks, letting me know that she was waking up from her nap. Here we go again... :)
P.S. While I'm writing this, Rhea came to sit on my lap and said, "I want to see pictures, can I see pictures?"..."Why not?" "How about Green Eggs and Ham?" "Mama, where's X? Where's O? Where's E?" (As she then proceded to push each one.) "Mama, when you're done, then pictures?" "How about a movie?" :) I LOVE my kids.