T Rex Family

T Rex Family

Monday, September 6, 2010

Ruminations...Controlled Chaos

Ruminate: to turn a matter over and over in the mind.

Continuing my series on my ruminations.

Sometimes I marvel at how we get through the day. I often feel like a pendulum swings back and forth between calm and collected to complete chaos.

For example, I recently took the kids on a walk in the neighborhood. T Rex was completely content walking along collecting sticks. But when he insisted his sister have her own stick and I declined on her behalf, he threw himself to the ground and commenced a tantrum. I utilized all my toddler whisperer techniques to no avail thus beginning a very long and arduous walk home.

I'm amazed no one stopped me to make sure I was not abducting this little boy who was crying and kicking while I held him across the stroller handle and pushed him and his sister home. We went from calm and serene to frazzled mess in less than 3 seconds.


This was the happy duo as we embarked on our walk.

I think the playroom is a good pictorial example of what I mean.


Morning...


Mid-day...


Afternoon/Evening.

So, I've been turning this over in my mind and I've finally come to a compromising conclusion. At this point, I will settle for controlled chaos.

Where does your household sit on the spectrum between calm and chaos?

8 comments:

zombiemom said...

T-Rex Princess smile makes me melt!

For us, I believe that time would be homework time. Everyone needs help at once it seems. I've tried organizing the time to spend with each individually, however, when one has around four hours of homework a night, you just have to get on it! This was of coarse last year. Lets hope this year goes better!
The good news is...I can hardly remember those "tantrum days". The bad news is...tantrums are now being replaced with eye-rolling, loudly sighing, talking under the breath and whining. I really only had one kid that did the full throttle tantrum. Now she's five and she thinks going in her room and closing the door is punishing me. I'm trying to keep her thinking it does ; )

Jenners said...

Do you really think anyone is going to try and take a screaming toddler off your hands???? HAHA!

Since school started today, calmness reigns! Wahoo!

Claremont First Ward said...

It's definitely not chaos, but not totally controlled either. :)

Emily said...

Such a cute post! I love your play room, by the way!

Ours turns on a dime. It comes in spurts...sometimes before church, sometimes during school, sometimes it slaps me in the face on an idle Tuesday.

I believe that controlled chaos is a very good option when it comes to toddlers.

Have a happy day!

septembermom said...

I try to keep a controlled chaos in my home. Sometimes I go a little too long to visit the boys downstairs. On those occasions, I'm amazed to see that the floor is quickly lost under all those toys!!

Thanks so much for the birthday wishes. You're such a sweet friend to me!!!

Jason & Claire said...

I love this post. You describe it all so perfectly! I'm still dealing with the drama of a princess and I already have an eye-rolling teenager. It's a good thing I love them as much as I do!

Nina said...

My house is full of craziness most of the time. I have eliminated a lot of the kids toys they don't play with and we keep only the few that they really like. This helps me manage the mess. Of course for two weeks I had little lego's scattered all over the toy room floor. I had to threaten that they will all be given away if they do not pick up the ones on the floor. I think that got Luke's attention anyway since he has lots of built sets that he loves.

Liz said...

GREAT STORY!!! I could picture you and your "abduction" :) We've been there!!

Our house is a bit chaos, a bit serene......but mostly chaos! I'll have some serene time in 20 years, right?!

PS How can I get your blog via email? I would love to get updates when you post!! :)