Find the Hilarity in the Moments

Its so easy to forget as parents, when our kids do something we deem bad, that it wasn't bad to them. We so often overlook the ingenious ideas behind what got them to the point, or the hilarity of the situation. We tend to yell and rant, scream and pitch a fit. Make them clean up their mess. Without ever acknowledging what got them there in the first place. While we may not appreciate the extra work it made, we should always take a moment to look at what the child accomplished in the first place.

For instance, my 2 year old decided he wanted to take a bath. However he is too small to turn the knob on the tub alone. So instead of telling me he wanted a bath. He went into the kitchen, filled up my dishwasher with liquid dish washing soap, the kind you would hand wash dishes for, and turned it on. Sure enough a few moments later bubbles poured out. He proceeded to strip down and sit in the bubble mess and enjoy his makeshift "bath".

I came on the scene a moment after he started it. Its not uncommon for him to go into the kitchen and get himself a snack which are left low for him. I heard the dishwasher turn on, and that itself is not unusual. Its very easy to turn ours on and he regularly does it. No it was the giggle that drew me to him. I found him there, sitting amid the bubbles, happily "splashing" them around. The floor was flooded with about 6 feet of bubbles, the cabinets were covered from him blowing them around. And the first instinct i had was to be angry.

So stop and think for a moment. I was angry, my son had just wasted an entire bottle of dish soap, he soaked the floor, splashed bubbles everywhere. Was sitting in the bubbles and now needed a real bath. And i had to clean out the dishwasher. But something stopped me in my anger. And i just laughed. It was then that it really hit me, how smart of a child he is to know that that bottle makes bubbles. He helps me with the dishes, so I'm not surprised. He can hear the water in the dishwasher and knows how to turn it on. Did he know that the bubbles would come out? Probably not. But even so. It was Funny, it was smart. And yeah it made quite the mess for me to clean up. But you know what. He helped me happily. And got his bath.

And what makes the moment just a bit better for me. I remembered to grab my camera and take a few photos. So try to remember, next time your child does something, no matter the mess, that your child did something, and it might be funny, it might be creative. So celebrate that. And get a photo, you want to remember those silly moments and you will forget why you were so angry, and just remember the moment.