No goose! and Media on the Rocks

I found my DVD’s in the refrigerator today. There, amongst the milk, butter, left-over food and lime juice on the top shelf sat Monsters, Inc., 10-Minute Pilates Solution and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

For a long minute I just sat there staring at it, wondering how on earth it got there. And then I remembered. Mia had been chewing on the DVD’s so I took them away from her. She took them back, being quite tall enough to now reach anything on a counter top. Maggie needed a diaper change so I quickly assessed my options and decided that the refrigerator was baby-locked and the DVD’s would be safe there.

I discovered them, chilled to perfection, hours later as I searched for the marinating chicken. I count it as a sign of both madness and ingenuity.

Madness because, seriously, who hides media entertainment in the refrigerator? It’s a clear sign of desperation and ill-advised decision making. But it’s ingenuity because in a quick moment I was able to rescue the DVD’s from chomping damage on my way to taking care of another issue.

Maybe this is what life is? Madness and ingenuity rolled into one? In the book, The Tipping Point, different leaders are highlighted at critical moments in their life when they were a hair’s breadth from disaster… yet their ingenuity and madness created not only an escape but also an extremely successful, viable option for their future. Ah… enough of that.

Mia has been playing pretend a lot lately – she has a puppy dog that lived with us for several weeks and she has just been proving to have an active imagination.

I thought that I could get in on the action of imagination. She said that she wanted to change her baby doll’s diaper so I helped her get the changing pad out of the diaper bag and gently lay Dolly down on the pad. Then, she told me that she needed a diaper.

I looked around, and having nothing else at hand, handed her a Cheerio that Maggie had been snacking on. I told her that it was a diaper wipe. She looked at me skeptically and I demonstrated, wiping the Cheerio across Dolly’s bottom to “clean” her.

“See,” I said, “all clean now – it’s a wipe.”

“No, Mommy!” Mia replied indignantly. She pointed her finger accusingly at the Cheerio and said, “This…. Cereal!”

(You Dummy was inherent in her tone of voice and look.)

I couldn’t stand it. The insanity of the fact that I had tried to pretend with her and failed so miserably, and that I had actually wiped a doll’s behind with a Cheerio overcame me. I burst out with wild laughter…

… and Mia began to laugh uproariously, too.

This is the good stuff of motherhood.

The last two days have been filled with adventure. Yesterday is the best, so I’ll tell today’s story first so I can end with a bang.

I was stupid enough to think that it would be a good idea to walk the ½ mile to the duck pond, pushing the double stroller along the side of the road because there were no sidewalks. And it felt like it was uphill both ways.

Once we got to the pond, however, the burning calves and raspy breathing were worth it. The pond has a ton of ducks and geese hanging out, waiting to be fed. We were able to get pretty close to a bunch of them while we sat under the shade of a tree. Then one brave goose came right up beside us in his quest for food.

After honking at us for awhile he reached out his neck and let me pet him. Then he gently stuck his head toward Mia, who was hiding in the protective circle of my legs, and pinched her! It startled her more than anything and she squeaked loudly, then pointed her finger at the goose and sternly said, “No… goose… no.. food… don’t… again!” Which, translated from Mia talk means, “No goose! We don’t have any food so don’t do that again!”

The goose wisely backed down.

And finally, the kicker of my week:

Yesterday afternoon my friend Julie and her children and mother came over to the college to look at the rose garden. It’s blooming and absolutely stunning right now. There’s a fountain in the center that the little girls were able to splash in and after we were done with that we headed to the apartment to play with the Power Wheels Jeep that we inherited (thanks, Dacia!).

Everything was going great but it was time for them to leave. So, I was walking them out when Mia walked behind me into the apartment and shut the door. Which was locked. And has a baby-proof handle.

Leaving Mia all by herself in the apartment with my keys and cell phone. And I was outside. Izzy was camping.

What could have become a cautionary tale actually has a good ending. I was able to get Kelly, the women’s RD and MY SAVIOR!, to open the door while Julie and the kids kept Mia at the windows by talking to her. So, the slight heart spasms I dealt with were over quickly.

Mia thought it was a great adventure.