The Messy Files

Lest anyone think the title of this blog, I Am A Mess, was intended to be tongue n’ cheek, I offer you…

lunch.

The task, of course, was simple: prepare lunch for Dylan.

I want to tell you this mess was an exaggeration but I can’t. It gets worse.

The ridiculous part is that he doesn’t even eat anything. All this mess was created for a kid who eats a thimble’s worth of food for lunch.

Adding to the chaos was a sensory exploration project gone awry. I filled a big bowl with dry noodles and gave Dylan more bowls, measuring cups and various kitchen utensils to dig and sort the pasta.

Dumping it all on the ground and crunching it with his feet proved more entertaining.

By the time I got him in his high chair it was well past a reasonable lunch hour.

And this is all we had to show for it. Our lunches:

Oh, and this:

Don’t even ask what is was…

All I had on hand to clean this mess with was bathroom cleaner and Dylan’s toy dust pan.

I am proud about one thing, though! I made the decision during lunch that I would clean the whole kitchen before Dylan and I left for the afternoon rather than deal with it when we got home, as I often do. So, after we were done eating I got Dylan down from his high chair and told him to go play while I cleaned. He walked into the kitchen, surveyed the ruins and looked as overwhelmed as I felt.

Then he did what I wish I could’ve:

Stuck a bowl on his head…

And marched out of the room.

Actually, it wasn’t all that bad. I set a timer (and by “timer” I mean half a Micky Mouse Clubhouse episode) for 15 minutes and got the kitchen cleaned, emptied the trash and even did a load of laundry. Success! Now I just need to figure out how to prevent these messes in this first place…