Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Dirt smells good.

No, really, it does.

If you can smell dirt, that means things are thawing. And its no longer winter.

(I hear choirs of angels singing - I swear. Oh wait - that's just the drunk neighbors hootin' and hollerin' over their green beer. Happy St. Pat's!)

I took the day off today to work on a few projects around the house. I have vacation time built up and with selling a house and buying another I'd be fooling myself to think we'd actually have time for a trip of any sort this year.

I got a head start yesterday afternoon. When I got home from work I scrubbed at the back (cement) steps with a wire brush before painting them.

Something like that sounds like a simple project until you add a four-year-old into the mix.

I mean, scrub, sweep, paint. What's that take, like an HOUR, tops?

Wrong-o.

"MOM! My baseball tee's broken!!!"

"MOM! Where's my football? This one's Will's football. I want miiiiiine!"

"MOM! Can you get my bike out of the garage?"

"MOM! I CAAAAAANNNN'TTTT DOOOOO IIIIIIIT!!!!" Followed by a WAAAAAH! and a Wah-hah-hah! and then WAAAAAAH! some more.

And if you think THAT'S bad? Oh, you should have SEEN the kid once he tipped his bike over.

Into the mud.

Oh lawdie. The kid's got an issue with mud.

"BUT I'M DIIIIRRRRRRTTEEEEE!!!"

I should have thrown mud at him.

Instead, like the mean Mom I am, I made him stand there, full of mud and crying so I could finish painting the last 12" of bottom step.

Total project time? 3 hours and 12 minutes.

I kid you not. It was cold and getting dark by the time we headed in. (Oh, and I'll just let you imagine the near freak-out Nick had when I teased him and told him we had to climb into the house through the window. Those pretty dark brown eyes went big as saucers I tell ya!)

So, off I go, to finish raking and edging. And painting. And scrubbing. And laundering. And...

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yep. That sounds about right. My husband wanted to know why nothing was getting done on our house in Huntington, until he tried working on the house in Charleston with the kids under foot.

Yep. One time, one time only. He's never given me grief since.

Tara R. said...

All of that sounds fabulous. I can't wait until I can mow my lawn for the first time.

What is it with kids these days? Back in my day if you were clean you weren't playing right.

Anonymous said...

How funny and oh so true! Glad the weather is thawing for you guys!

Vodka Mom said...

mental health day? I take one once a month- Good for you!!!

Marni's Organized Mess said...

Haha, you crack me up!

Jena Webber said...

I'm totally with you! I LOVE the smell of spring. I love nuzzling my nose in the kids' hair after they've been out romping all day in the fresh outdoors.

Anonymous said...

Yes, this is the mud season. It take a lot of work.

Cathy said...

Thanks for visiting my Not Me! Monday through MckMama! And I LOVED this post of yours, because it certainly does NOT ring true in my life;)

Mama Smurf said...

Hey...but for that 3 hrs and 12 mins you got to smell the fresh fragrance of DIRT! So worth it!

=)

Mama Smurf said...

Hey...but for that 3 hrs and 12 mins you got to smell the fresh fragrance of DIRT! So worth it!

=)

Mama Smurf said...

Hey...but for that 3 hrs and 12 mins you got to smell the fresh fragrance of DIRT! So worth it!

=)

Kim H. said...

I so know what you mean -- except I think my kids look for dirt and roll around in it on purpose!

The other day all I wanted to do was get my kitchen cleaned up and tidy so I could start dinner -- I know, I'm weird like that -- and Molly kept escaping out the back door -- so I finally said "heck with it" and sat on the patio swing and watched her dig in the dirt. It was delightful. Now the kitchen didn't clean itself, but those dishes weren't going anywhere!

And all this dirt means SPRING IS COMING!!!

Roger Miller said...

Now if I can only convince the kids that they DON'T need to stay in the house. I think we're almost there.

YAY SPRING!