The kindness of 4 year olds

So this morning I was woken up at 630 (half hour before my alarm) by my 13 year old daughter saying the toilet had overflowed.  I got out of bed to assess the situation, envisioning just a little overflow and a toilet needing to be plunged. 

When I arrived at the bathroom I was distressed to find that I had majorly underestimated the situation. The smell was horrible, there were two soaked towels on the floor and still there was standing water.  I immediately asked, "how many times did flush it???". She said just once.  I told her it was obviously more than just once, and she then said "I don't know. Maybe 3 or 4 times?!"

OMG.

I had her help get the wet towels to the washing machine and take out the trash and get her sister breakfast, and then let her get on her way to school while I continued to deal with the flooded bathroom.  On her way out the door she says "bye Mom. Have a good day!". As I'm on my hands and knees soaking up toilet water from the bathroom floor, I grumble to myself, "ya, thanks... I'm going to have a *GREAT* day.

So half an hour later I've arranged to come into work late, I haven't showered yet, I'm still in sweatpants and a tanktop, I've been cleaning up toilet water for an hour, and have my arm down the heater vents trying to dry out and sanitize in hopes that my house won't smell like a toilet from now on, my 4 year old has been running around and jabbering at me non stop.  Then she comes up next to me and says, "mommy....?" I'm really about to lose it.... "yeeeees?" I say and turn to look at her with my arm still in the vent. 

"You look very beautiful"

Kind of melted my heart a little.  It was so sweet that she would be so kind and make me feel beautiful and loved in a moment of such ugliness.

Now that I'm 30..

Now that I've been 30 for 9 days, I thought I'd post an update.  My birthday was nice.  I spent it with my husband and kids.  The place I wanted to go for lunch was closed on Sundays so I picked a Mexican place I haven't been in quite awhile, and treated myself to two yummy blackberry margaritas - Yes... for lunch.  Then we went to an arcade and played games, and then we went home and my cold set in...  I felt pretty horrible for a few days, but I still had a good birthday!

So an update of my items on where I wanted to be when I was 30 (from last post):

The one I've been focusing most on is the mother part.  I think I'm doing a really good job actually.  I've been exceptionally patient, really focusing on taking the time to be pleasant and interactive. 

I've developed an interest in "character education".  There seems to be lots of materials out there, and some might think, well this is easily (?) taught through regularly discussion and setting good examples.. well maybe, but I'd really like some teaching aids.  So I found these books by Carl Sommer.  The first time I found them was in part of this library edition set and for the 24 books, it would cost $365, that doesn't include the DVDs that go with each book.  We don't just have $365 around to spend on books!  So then I found on his website that you can get a subscription for $20 a month that will give you 2 books plus the accompanying DVDs each month, plus bonus materials every few months.  http://www.sommerlearning.com/sales/about.html  So now I just need to convince the husband that we should add a $20 expense to our monthly budget for the sake of our youngest child's character development!

I haven't made much progress on my other items, but I am keeping them in mind during my daily activities, so I think as time goes on I will find more and more opportunities to improve!  I'm actually kind of excited about being 30.  I certainly wouldn't have thought even a month ago that I'd be "excited". 

13 hours and 19 minutes minutes until I'm 30!

Yikes!  Time flies!  Tomorrow I will be 30.  The past few years I've viewed this birthday as hugely significant.  Now suddenly I feel like I've already been 30 for a long time and I'm in some kind of time warp! Weird.  I guess this means I'm really an adult (not a young adult..) unless that happens at 40??

I have ideas of who I want to be as a 30 year old Amanda.  Here they are:

A cherished mother:  I want to be patient and kind and fun, and have my children look back at their childhood memories of me with fondness.  It's not too late right?

A good wife:  I struggled with the word for this, and I guess "good" will have to do.  I want to be supportive to my husband, and make him feel loved and important to me.  I want to give as much as I take.

A professional:  In my early 20's, I climbed fairly quickly in my career from a part time receptionist to a Registrar - a manager on the executive committee.  Now I've been at this level for a number of years and it's about time I started *fitting*.  I'm sure one of these days I won't be the youngest person at my management level, so now that I'm 30 I want to fit in better and not feel like a kid just along for the mentorship.

A girlfriend (to women):  I want to be friends with other women and occasional do something like go out for drinks, or coffee, or dessert, or hang out while kids play together, or go shopping.  Seems like it would be nice.  In my 20's I always felt like I was at a different stage in life than most women in their 20's and I see that starting to level out now, where I don't feel like an outcast due to my life choices.

Be "Put Together": I want to paint my nails pretty colors, wear shiny lip gloss, dress fashionably and appear put together - elegant and sophisticated... can I pull that off?  I'm going to work on it.  I got a new coat and it helped this feeling for me.. not sure what I'll do outside of wearing the coat, but I just want people to look at me say, wow she's really looks like she has it together. (whatever that means).

I guess that's what it really comes down to for me with being 30.  I feel like I should be all these things, and I know that all of these areas need work, (some more than others).  It makes me feel a certain level of pressure... but I have time right?  It doesn't have to magically come together the moment I turn 30.

For Sally