Staying in the moment

I've said it before and I'll say it again, parenting keeps you in the moment. Sometimes frustratingly so when all you want to do is have a minute to relax and breathe and let down your guard. As Elisa has gotten older and past the fussy baby and crawling disaster stages, it was sometimes easy to think my life was becoming my own again--that I didn't have to be ready at all times for whatever she would throw at me. But the truth is, I don't think it ever really stops. Part of parenting, for me at least, is knowing that I'm on call 24/7, and accepting that I'm lucky enough to be the one she cries out for to fix the booboos and to make her feel safe. It means that even though she sleeps through the night, takes a good nap in the afternoon and generally communicates what she wants these days, I'm still never really sure what's coming next. Most days this means I'm entertained with a slew of songs and antics that make me shake my head and laugh. Elisa is always surprising me with her humor and love of dancing and singing. But sometimes it also means being prepared for the truly crazy stuff.

Case in point...today as I was sitting at the desk reading, Elisa wandered over and said she had a booger for me. Nothing new there. I get handed boogers on a regular basis and my normal m.o. is to reach out, grab the offending crunchy bit and wipe it off on a tissue. Problem solved. But not today. No, today as I was reaching up to wipe her hand with mine, I looked down and realized something was wrong. This was one nasty booger. And it was green. And it looked suspiciously like guacamole. But we hadn't had our leftover Mexican food yet for lunch, so where did this come from? And then I got a whiff. Oh, no. This wasn't a "booger" as she had described. About the time my mind clicked, I saw Elisa reaching around her waist and digging in her pants for something. Oh yes. This was a fingerful of shit. Niiiice. It was at that moment that I realized what she'd done and actually said out loud, "Oh, honey, this isn't a booger. You've pooped!" As I tried to keep her hands out of her diaper, I swooped her up to run to the changing table to see where this had migrated. Fortunately, it hadn't gone far, and after carefully inspecting the living room, I think she must have been standing up when this all went down. But man, what a way to go from calm and composed to elbow-deep in shit in 30 seconds. Yep, that's my life. Thinking on the go and ready for whatever shit comes my way.