A Sweet Treat

Me and messes.

Messes and me.

We don't mix very well.

Kids and messes.

Messes and kids.

They L-O-V-E, LOVE each other.

Don't get me wrong.  My house is never without some sort of mess or dirtiness.  Its not what you could call spotless.  There are two kinds of messes that I really don't handle well.  One, are things that can spill on floors.  For example, a can of cooking oil spilled across a kitchen floor, throw up on my carpet, pee on my carpet, colored drinks on my carpet.....all of which have happened, and in most cases on multiple occasions.  Usually Trevor has to step in and handle these situations because I go into a sheer panic.  Its like I freeze and can't even comprehend where to begin cleaning up.  The second kind of mess, is anything sticky.  Just the smell of maple syrup makes me feel sticky.

Back in July my mom came home from her 1st ever trip to Disneyland (hard to believe, huh?) bearing gifts for her 2 favorite grandkids in the whole world (and yes, they are her only grandkids....).  There was some hesitation in her voice when she told me she brought them suckers over the phone.  She knows me too well.  Something sticky....

I never want my kids to miss out on the joys of childhood because of my nut job tendencies, so I told her that it was fine.  I knew she was excited to give them to the boys, and I knew they would be excited to get their special treat from Disneyland!

What to do?  What to do?  I may have been okay with the suckers, but I was already dreading the sticky mess that would most definitely occur.

AHA!!!!  I came up with a brilliant solution.  I gave the boys the option of either a big colorful lollipop, or a much smaller (less messy) sucker shaped like Mickey Mouse's head.  They chose the lollipop.  Duh.  Then I stripped them down and put them in the big bathtub in our bathroom.  Not only did they get soaped down and somewhat clean prior to the suckers, but they were contained in one spot and every drop of sticky-ness fell into the bathtub or rinsed off instead of on their clothes.  And faces.  And hands.  And then transfered to me.  And the couch.  And every other surface that they come in contact with.

Best bath ever.