If it's yellow, let it mellow

Just wanted to document our trip to Busch Gardens this past Sunday. We didn't bring any sort of still or video camera and I was thinking, if you don't have pictures, did it really happen? Because I really think it's possible to forget events like this, even though I've always been really good with dates and my own personal and family history. When enough time passes, these things sort of blend together.

It was a fun day filled with lots of cool things for the kids to see, plus I got to ride two roller coasters! But the strongest memory for me was when Penelope decided to sample some of her own urine. My kids are growing up and I fear I'm going to run out of these kinds of stories yet still they seem to happen to me.

I was watching Penelope, Libby, and Cash play in their swimsuits in the kiddie water playground. Basically a bunch of falling water contraptions and spouts of water that come up from the ground. Penelope is potty training and doing quite well, so I just had her in her swimsuit with no diaper or anything. There were a lot of kids there and a lot of parents, so when she began to spread her legs and look down and watch the stream of yellow going through her suit and onto the rubber ground, I was standing a good distance from her so I decided to pretend she was not my child. I figured she'd finish her business and move on, and if anyone was grossed out by this they wouldn't know who to blame.

I'm doing fine until she reaches down, catches some of the pee in her hand and puts her hand to her mouth. But I'm committed. Besides, I really don't want to admit to being her mom at this point. Yet I can't let it happen twice so I go over and catch her in the act and redirect. She looked at me as if she knew but didn't care. This is toddlerhood at it's best. The "I know it's bad for me but I'm going to do it anyway and see what happens" mantra they must brainwash the toddlers with when we're not looking. Like, if we played their kid videos backwards it's going to say, "Eat poop, bite people, and run the other way when your parents call you!" This, I believe, is why God makes them so stinkin' cute. Because if any person over the age of 4 samples their pee, we are repulsed by them. But when my angelic looking 2 year old does it, it's really quite funny. But still really gross!

I'm sure there are times I've lost it when my kids want to pretend like I'm not their mom. This is the nature of family. We're figuring it all out together and we love each other regardless. And in the end, it all goes down the same drain.