6 a roll of blue tape

Yes, this roll of blue tape is blog worthy. It symbolizes the exquisite agony of parenting toddlers. All toddlers. Not just extra interesting toddlers like Hazel who owns attacking pajommies that she attacks people in.

 

 This roll of blue tape was happily stored on a shelf in the basement ever since our last painting project. Yesterday I heard a thump thump thump coming up from the basement. Finally Hazel arrived with this roll of tape around her ankle. The victory of keeping it on was celebrated by unceremoniously dumping it in the floor and walking away. This is the mind numbing adorableness that is toddlers. You want to scream and laugh second by second. It makes you feel like you must be manic or something. I pointed at the blue tape and told Jody that's why the house always looks like a tornado blew through. It's not just toys they drag out and it's never less than a hundred "things" a day.

Awhile later I saw Stella chewing the tape. Now my painting tape has holes in it which will surely be a thrill the next time I pull it out.

There's also food. Encouraging kids to eat healthily in moderation without wasting is in itself a full time job with four kids. Hazel is not trained yet so we are still doing exercises like saving a pear with a little nibble eaten all the way around it and trimming it to serve again a few days later. This is a thankless task that requires self discipline. At .99 per pound just how far should I take this you know? My fridge is littered with half eaten yogurts with plastic wrap on them. My pantry has little baggies of pretzels and nuts never finished. My counter always seems to have a cup of milk, a cup of water and a cup of juice scattered across it. My jeans are straining under the pressure of 5 extra pounds which I'd like to blame her for as well. 

As you can see, Hazel has reached the age of unnaturally bright smiles when you produce a camera. This is also a conundrum of parenting. Do I sneak around with a camera to try to capture natural moments? Embrace the blinding smiles with tilted heads and puffed chests and take pics calling it part of the journey? Do I hold it all in until I explode begging her to stop being fake and scarring her for life?

And that's all just Hazel. The complexity of parenting the other three quite eclipses her but it's not quite as funny and mundane all at once. It seems like trying to write a drama series rather than a comedy which makes me tired just thinking about it. This was a lot of fun though! I took Eden to Jenny for a hair makeover. 

Here's before:

In process:

And after!!!