A Flaw In The System

I gave up trying to keep my floor clean. I sweep it once a day. I could sweep it 20 times a day, and it would make no difference. It's like a moth to a flame.

Isaac would still manage to find the one piece of dirt I missed and it would end up in his mouth.

With two cats and a husband who leaves stuff all over, the floor gets pretty bad. And all the flooring is hardwood. The cats scratch the heck out of their scratching pads and kitty condo, which incidently are Isaac's favorite things to put in this mouth: catnip paper and carpet strands.

It is not uncommon for me to yell "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" about 50 times before 9 am.

Which he think is H-I-LARIOUS.

The most commonly used phrases in our household these days are "Isaac, what's in your mouth, NOW?!" and "Do not put that in your mouth, Isaac!"

It's hard to contain him. He loves his mobility and has the attention span of about 20-30 minutes. It takes me forever to get ready for work and daycare in the morning because I can only keep him contained in the playpen for about 20 minutes because the bored screams begin. I close the doors to every room except his (and the bathroom, because that is where I am getting ready) and let him crawl back and forth down the hall from his room to the living room where his toys are. There is a long runner in the hallway, so it is really the living room where the trouble begins. My kitchen has two doorways but if I leave the light off, he misses the hallway entrance.

When it goes quiet, I know there is something happening that should not be.

This morning, in the span of 20 minutes, Isaac managed to have my shoes, dried catfood, and creme de la creme...my husband's underwear off the bathroom floor.

Backtrack: I have yelled at my husband many times about leaving his t-shirt, boxers, and socks on the floor after his shower. He manages to hang up his pjs, but something about walking the extra feet to the hamper proves too much to handle in the morning. I don't get it. Even now, that his schedule has been adjusted so his has more time in the morning, the clothes still lay on the floor. His system of cleaning up after himself generally involves him picking up these said items in the evening, after 3 or 4 days worth have piled up, or not at all because his wife can't take it anymore and does it for him.

So this morning, a certain husband received this text: If having your wife ask you a million times to pick your stuff up off the bathroom floor was not a good enough reason, maybe this will do it: YOUR SON JUST HAD YOUR BOXERS IN HIS MOUTH.

And so we shall see>>>>

(NOTE: I was not able to stop this horrendous act of my child. He's FAST. And sneaky. I left the bathroom for 2 seconds to get my deodorant and he scooted in behind me. Actually, he did it so fast, I think he beamed in. Again, it was the silence that alerted me to the act. Sigh. This is also a mother FAIL. )