Hiding.

Sometimes I go into our lower level (finished basement) and leave all the lights off. I can be on the computer and unless the house is completely quiet (which it NEVER is), you can't hear my typing. It's a nice place to escape kids. If I'm really lucky, I get 10 minutes before they find me. Don't worry, DH is around when I do "escape".

I want to understand the mind of a 3 year old boy. I really do. I want to know why spreading lotion on toys or electronics is neat. Or why throwing paper clips everywhere is fun. Soaking the carpet with water...why? DESTROYING things. That was just today and that was just ONE 3 year old.

Last night my sister and brother-in-law came over and they brought their almost-3-year old son. Put one 3 year old with an almost 3 year old and very little good stuff can come from that. I witnessed it myself. While us adults played cards upstairs, we let them play downstairs where most of the toys are. Toys GALORE. Given that we have an open staircase and the table is right next to it, we could hear most everything. Note that key word: most. Notice that it's not "everything". Like:

• Taking the Monopoly game completely apart
• Clearing an entire windowsill of all the pictures and decorations on it and to get to that windowsill, you have to climb a cabinet.
  
• Actually breaking a wooden train-set play table because one of them stood in it.
• Going into big tubs and taking EVERYTHING out of them. I had pictures scattered everywhere:(
  

Why? All of those toys and instead they chose to destroy. It doesn't happen with one 3 year old. Needless to say, big measures will be taken this week to organize our storage room AGAIN to see if I can get some room for things that obviously can't stay out if we have anymore playdates here.

I'm frustrated. I clean so much and to have to clean out-of-the-ordinary messes on top of what I already do is just disheartening when I'm already exhausted. I KNOW he's a good kid. I also know that the next person to tell me that I don't do anything as a stay-at-home-mom is looking for a swift, SWIFT kick in their a**.