Squeeze your eyes tight....

And PICTURE the CHAOS. 


Really...sometimes I just have to laugh internally, even while trying to tame the crazy chaos that can spring up unexpectedly.  I'm sure some of you relate.  And if you can't, well then, now is when the wool is pulled away from your eyes....sometimes I mess up a bit. QUITE a bit.

The Scene...Stephen has been sleeping for 1.5 hrs.  Sometimes he makes it a 2 hr nap, sometimes not. .I'm in the garage finishing the first coat of stain on a new bookshelf.  I have the front, top, trim and sides of the bookshelf done. The other children are playing legos downstairs...having vanished from the garage for a combination of reasons.  They had 2 rules if they were in the garage.  1. They had to stay on the back step unless they had permission. (John kept sliding over to the fridge to eat yellow tomatoes =) - forgiven.) 2. This is not mommy's forte...so no idle chatting.

Oh, and b/c I'm a newbe...there was stain allllll over both of my hands.  All I have left to stain was the solid back and the sides of a couple of shelves.  This was going to be done in a jif!

Sarah comes and tells me that Stephen was awake and crying.  I asked her to ask Aaron to come see me.  I tell Aaron to take Stephen for a little walk outside while i finish...It won't even be 10 min...I say. Stephen...still crying (poor guy, he usually gets cuddled when I get him up from his nap) gets loaded on big bro.'s shoulders.  He does not calm down.  I hear them through the garage door outside.  I hear them come back in the house.  The house door opens and Sarah starts to come out into the garage holding Stephen!

"No, no!" I say." AARON, TAKE HIM IN HIS ROOM"  I'm semi-yelling, just to be heard over the inconsolable toddler sobs.  His reply?

"I'll just go do my homework" as he heads towards the basement.  Smart child, he knows he can't handle a crying baby well, but I can't touch anything with my stainy hands! 

"No!" I repeat, "I can't pick him up."  Having hurriedly finished my staining, I rush into the house and into the bathroom, dodging the wailing toddler to wash my hands. 

The realization enters my brain that ordinary soap and water will not be solving my problem anytime soon!  OK.  "AARON, PLEASE GO GET MY PHONE AND COME IN HERE...on the OTHER side of me, so you can hear me"   As I direct my son on how to speed dial my favorite man, Stephen continues to wail, watching me from the doorway.  It is truly piercing and a bit echoic from the bathroom.  I tell him to "Ask Dad what I should use to clean my hands....it's ok if you go out of the bathroom to hear him"

I'm thinking to myself....why WHY why oh why didn't I think of this before I started?  Chalk that one up to lessons of a first time stainer.  I was beginning to wonder if my "honey pine" tan was going to have to wear off! 

 By this time, Stephen had lurched toward me, and I had wiped my hands on a BLACK washcloth, so I could at least bend down, pick him up with my inner arms and set him on my knee so that I could cuddle his head.  i still didn't want to touch his clothes! The wailing ceased and just the occasional hiccuping sob escaped.

Hallelujah...what a husband, bringing his heavy duty hand cleaner up from the shop to me.

So it only lasted about 3-5 min.  I don't know...I didn't have time to look at the clock and i sure didn't have the ability to take pictures...hehe.  Calming Chaos...a little love and one husband rescue at a time.

Really, the rest of the day was great =)