Well, it spoke to me. I tend to spread out those bad 5 minutes into bad days, I know I do. After seeing this for the 15th time, I knew I needed to apply it to my life.
Because, no matter how rough a few minutes of a day it, I am incredibly blessed!!!
Lana slept until 10am today, and she woke up happy, singing in her crib and just thrilled to see me come into her room! She makes me feel like a rock star, just by showing up! Never mind that I'm not wearing make-up, heck I'm usually not even wearing pants, my hair's a mess, and I'm sure I have bad breath. Nope, she's over the moon to see me!
We ate breakfast, pancakes for her and cereal for me. She only ate 2 of her 6 mini chocolate chip pancakes (they're basically a cookie), and drank a little of her milk. I was annoyed that she wouldn't eat, but just let her be.
I worked on my embroidery hoops, finishing the backs of 5 hoops, for the next hour at least. She played all around me, happy as a clam! At one point I turned around to see her sitting on the table, holding a rose from my birthday bouquet (thanks Korrine), singing at the top of her lungs into a spatula, and swinging her legs. Adorable! I came up to her and I could see the fear on her face, she thought I would yell at her for being on the table (which admittedly I do a lot), but instead I gave her a big hug and kisses, and told her she was the cutest girl! How could I be upset with her, when she's so happy!
We went to the post office to mail out some etsy orders, then Kroger to get a few things for dinner tonight. She cried and screamed when I tried to put her in the cart, it was pretty embarrassing. I got a lot of looks from strangers: pity, concern, annoyance, and enjoyment. She climbed out of the cart and lunged at me, holding onto my neck as tight as her little hands could grasp. She immediately stopped crying, and just looked at me and whimpered, "mommy." I carried her through the store, only putting her down to check out. I started out so frustrated with her! Stop crying! We ride in carts all the time! But then I thought about how fleeting these times are, and how in a few years she won't long for me to hold her.
We got some Wendy's french fries (and a caffeine free diet cherry Coke for me) and came back to the house to play with sidewalk chalk. She was so happy that I was playing with her, giving her all the attention she deserves, and being silly with her. We drew Peppa Pig, a hot air balloon that looked like an Easter egg, a dinosaur, a sun, and a rainbow. She pointed to each one and told me what they were, then walked over them and counted from 1 to 13 over and over again. It wasn't a discussion of importance, but it was a conversation to her.
She refused to take a nap, instead she gibber-jabbered in her crib for over an hour. I was bitter that she wouldn't nap, because then I couldn't nap! But then I went to get her, and she was so happy to see me! She popped right up, and said, "mommy, downstairs?" So downstairs we went.
I was prepping our dinner, chopping up vegetables and chicken for some delicious lettuce wraps. I turned on Peppa Pig for Lana to watch while I worked. All the sudden, I hear something drop. I turn around.
Spoiler: this is the 5 minutes...
Lana had taken my large, delicious caffeine free diet cherry Coke from Wendy's, which was on the kitchen counter out of her reach I though, and tried to drink it. But it slipped out of her hands and went EVERYWHERE. All over the wall, the table, the floor, the rug, and of course her. I roughly scooped Lana out of the way and tried cleaning up the mess. Justen walked in from work right about now, and saw me wiping up. I was angry. I was mean to Lana. I even mumbled under my breath that she was stupid.
Justen lost it. He picked up our pookie, pointed his finger in my face and said, "You don't EVER call our daughter stupid," and stormed out of the kitchen. Lana was crying because mommy was mad, daddy was yelling, and Peppa got turned off.
I chased after my loves, apologized profusely, kissed away all the tears, and promised to never say that again. I don't know why I did say it, I don't think that and I've never thought or said that before! I'm glad she's little and won't remember. I hope Justen can forgive and forget.
It was a rough 5 minutes.
We cleaned up, finished food prep, and decided we weren't hungry yet. Justen got our bikes ready and we went on a family bike ride, it was wonderful! We all had so much fun! Lana was particularly adorable, giggling and laughing as she rode in her bike carrier thingy behind Justen. Justen and I had a great talk about our future, making plans and dreaming of our future. We stopped at a playground for Lana to go down a slide a dozen times, and the joy on her face reminded me of how lucky I am.
We came home, had a great dinner, but Lana refused to eat anything. Justen made her a grilled cheese sandwich and she wouldn't touch it. She kept going to the pantry and begging for chips. She'd pull on my shirt or arm, and beg for chips. She'd yell at Justen for chips. She tried everything to get chips, but we held our ground. She found a glass jar with bouillon cubes in it, and thought it was candy. She threw the biggest fit for that "candy" despite us telling her it was yucky! Justen gave in and gave her a shiny, gold foil-wrapped chicken-flavored bouillon cube, which she excitedly opened and popped in her mouth! I videoed it, It was hysterical! She spit it out, said, "yucky," over and over again! Even after that, she wouldn't take a drink of milk or try her sandwich!
So Justen disappeared and I did dished while Lana whined and cried for chips. When he came back to the kitchen, I snapped at him to help dry the dishes and get Lana out of the pantry. I told him I hadn't had a break all day! He replied, "Neither have I." I was all of the sudden grumpy and wanted to get away, so I went to our room and started a shower.
Then Lana hopped in the shower with me. She was so silly, she turned my frown upside down almost immediately! When I finished up, I ran a warm bath for her and she was a little fish! She loves water, she never wants her bath to end. But, it does...
And her comes another 5 minutes.
She screamed and cried when Justen dried her off, and lotioned her up, and put on her jammies. So. Much. Screaming. When he finished, we went downstairs to watch a show, but she screamed even more because she just wanted to watch Peppa Pig in the kitchen. Peppa Pig is the soundtrack to our lives right now. So, in a fit of rage, I scooped her up and said, "say goodnight to daddy, you are going to bed!" I took her to her room and dumped her in her crib, kissed her and said goodnight while she screamed.
I stepped out of her room and put my head in my hands, and just thought, "Today has been the worst day!" But then I thought about the meme... It was just a few instances of unpleasantness, which is totally typical of a 2-year old! In reality, today was a really great day!
While Lana screamed, Justen and I watched some tv together and got ready for bed. We checked on her an hour or so later, and she was naked from the waist down, fast asleep in her crib! We put on a clean pullup, her pj bottoms, and snuggled her warm little body until she fell back asleep. It was both hilarious and precious.
And that's what I choose to take from today: Lana is both hilarious and precious. She is my favorite, second only to Justen. She makes every day better, and I'm glad for the reminder to look past those pesky 5 minutes.
