Living with Gabe

I know, a new post has been shamefully overdue. Hopefully, today's post will entertain enough to get me back into the habit!

Yesterday, I heard some clanking around in the kitchen while the rest of us were upstairs. I coax Gabe to come upstairs. After a while goes by, we all come back downstairs from playing when I see that my spoon rest dish is shattered in pieces, all over the floor. (Which, he has to climb up the bar chairs and lean over the bar to get to this in the first place!) When I start to clean it up and Gabe stands next to me, throws his arms out in front of him and says "Oh, no!" In dramatic shock. He knows he did it! "Oh no is right, Gabe! This is a no-no. Don't mess with Mommy's things." Then I notice my tool turn-about is nearly empty. I look around and don't see my kitchen tools anywhere, no spatulas or bamboo spoons, nothing. So I look in the drawers thinking that maybe he was trying to be helpful and "put them away" for me. Hmm, nope. Not in the drawers. Another hour goes by & it's time for the boys to do their chores. Micah vacuums the stairs with the mini vacuum (-he loves it!) and Caleb takes out the box of recycling. As I lift the box down from the bar (Strategically placed on the bar so that Gabe can't put toys or important things in it) into Caleb's arms, I notice my favorite whisk. Oh no. I start pulling things like my can opener, another whisk, pie server, etc. out left and right. But the box was FULL of milk jugs, flattened boxes, cans, etc. For whatever reason I turned, and Caleb took the box out. So I slip on my flip-flops and run out to stop him, I turn the corner just to see everything being dumped into the big green container. Oh well. I hope I got everything out! Within minutes I had everybody get their shoes on and we got in the car for my dentist appointment. I kept thinking at different moments, I need to go check to make sure I got everything. So, this morning, I run out to the curb, trying to beat the recycling truck. I lean into the large green bin and dig. I start pulling everything out and onto the sidewalk. Gabe followed me out. He tries to hand me a milk jug and in his sweet voice says, "Milk-y, milk-y?" "Yes, thank you, Gabe. Just put it down." And I pull out more.

Ta-da! There is a measuring spoon. I search for more and find another measuring spoon. I dig deeper, tipping the tall bin down so I can reach farther. I see a huge cockroach scurrying around. Yikes! I keep going, determined that I am not going to have to replace any of my kitchen tools if I don't have to. I can't quite reach the bottom, so I grab something long to swish things around. Occasionally, I look at Gabe to make sure he stays put and chastising him for putting my things in the recycling box. I knew there was one more measuring spoon I hadn't found yet.

Daftly maneuvering to avoid the cockroach, I swished more cans around with my make-shift reacher. Just before I was about to call my search thorough enough, I see him, out of the corner of my eye, pick up one of the two found measuring spoons and throw it, where it ricocheted off the street and into the gutter!

I quickly tossed everything back into the bin and picked up the little naughty one and headed back into the house.

Thank goodness I remembered that my husband recently bought a reaching "nab-grabber" as Micah (4yrs) calls it. I was able to retrieve the measuring spoon out of the gutter. Whew.

Then Gabe tells me he wants "milk-y, milk-y, millllk." (his word now for anything to drink). I get him a sippy cup of diluted Gatorade since he doesn't want to eat anything lately. He drinks a little, then he goes over to shoe rack, sits down, kicks out his feet and says, "shhhh, shh?" So I put on his shoes because he wanted to outside. Then I think, I need to get the boys outside before it gets too hot to play. I go upstairs, telling Gabe I'm going to get Micah & Caleb & I'll be right back.

I come back and there is a puddle...sticky...with muddy shoe prints tracked all over the floor. "Milk-y!" Gabe says as he points to the mess. He had shaken nearly his entire drink out all over my shoes, his shoes and all over floor and the bottom of the carpeted stairs.

Oh...and now I hear the recycling truck outside.