Just another messy Monday

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Today marks the start of a new week, at the beginning of a new year, which means getting off to a fresh start working toward goals, completing chores and all that jazz. But for us this has been one of the Mondayest Mondays in the history of Mondays.
 
Our plan was a simple one. Get back to business, specifically school business, after the holiday break and take care of a few household chores.
 
Great.
No problem.
We got this!
 
Everything was off to a fine start. My daughter was fully engaged, reading our morning message on the board all by herself, being 100% attentive during storytime and making no fuss about working in her workbook. It was a homeschooler’s dream morning. So, I thought I would attend to a couple quick chores of my own while she was getting her work done. My plan? Touch up a few spots of chipped paint around the house from taking down holiday decorations.
 
Nothing strenuous.
Shouldn’t take too long.
 
Oh…how wrong I was.
Life is just full of little surprises.
 
The gallon of paint had been sitting down in the basement since its last use, so I picked it up to give it a good shake to make sure the paint was nicely mixed up. Turns out I shook it a bit too well, when the lid opened up and a river of paint began to flow out onto the dining table. At my exclamation of surprise, my daughter came running in to see what had happened and thankfully jumped into action when I said I needed paper towels, STAT!  In the process of cleaning up the mess we managed to create an even bigger mess as paint magically appeared on every surface we neared, including ourselves. (Thankfully I was still in the middle of laundry.) Each time I turned around I swear there was another smear of paint…on the edge of the table, the chairs, the counter, the handle of the dishwasher, the kitchen towels…you name it, there was a drop of paint on it…EXCEPT the floor. Miraculously, the rug was spared.
 
Things can only get better from here, right?
 
HA! Sure.
 
While getting dinner ready, the bacon stuck to the non-stick pan.
Bacon!
In a non-stick pan!
STUCK?!
Is that even possible???
I assure you it is entirely possible, it happens and it’s messy.

All these little bumps in our day made me think of the classic story, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst and the wise words at the end of the story:

It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
My mom says some days are like that.

Well, when that thought popped into my mind, I of course had to pull out our copy of the book to share with my daughter, which sparked an impromptu storytime of books about having a not-so-good day.

Moral of this long story?
Sometimes your day may not go quite as you had hoped or expected it to. Messes happen, but they can be cleaned up. Days like these make for some great stories to laugh about later and they can lead to some spectacular reading inspiration too.

Anywho…happy Monday, friends. We wish you a very happy Monday ?

-Kate @ BTBL

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Author

We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 5) for Kate, and two sons (now 3 and 1) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.