It’s the Little Things

Our household has faced a few hurdles these past couple weeks, mostly related to household appliances. First was the thermostat that we thought had crapped out on a nearly 100 degree day. Luckily it was just batteries, but we didn’t have it totally figured out till after my brother, who works for a KC heating and cooling company, came over after hours to make sure everything was okay. Of course he took the time to check the AC unit itself and hose it off to make sure it was as efficient as possible. What a nice brother, you know?

Then was the clogged kitchen sink. Both sides got clogged at different times, and the dishwasher drained into the clogged location, therefore rendering both our manual and automatic dishwashing mechanisms useless. After 4 bottles of liquid plumber, the maneuvering of a metal hanger, and finally taking the entire piping beneath the kitchen sink apart, we were back in business. It took me three dishwasher cycles to get the dishes caught up, even after using paper plates during the downtime! I will not even go into the smells associated with debacle.

Finally, we canceled cable. As we looked for ways to cut back and increase our cash flow, this was the one thing we decided we could try living without. I’m not big on TV, and even though I worried if Ronnie could stand it, I knew we’d adjust and probably find better things to do anyway, like, you know, spend quality time together as a family. Then I remembered Skyler and her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse addiction, and how if ever I want free time to myself to get things done without the nagging of a 2 1/2 year old, I can turn on the DVR’d episodes and she goes into zombie mode, like a tractor beam, sucking her in to the TV. It became a painful decision. But bravery and frugality won over, and we turned in the cable box. We traded it for a Netflix subscription, so now instead of watching TV, we stream movies from the computer using the “Watch Instantly” option. And there’s no Mickey Mouse Clubhouse available on there, but Skyler is expanding her horizons as well and learning to watch other kid shows.

So much of our routine and comfort was thrown off in the last couple weeks, and we realized how much little things that we take for granted can make a difference in our peace of mind. But on the bright side, Skyler is pretty much fully potty trained, and except for her still learning that sometimes a fart is something more, we’ve got that milestone mostly behind us and at least didn’t have to deal with dirty diapers while things were extra stinky around here. And by the way, speaking of little things, listening to the observations of a nearly three-year-old as she is going number two and hasn’t yet grasped the mundane-ness of the activity can be really entertaining…

(While looking down between her legs watching each successive piece plop into the toilet)
“Whoop! I did another poopy! There went another one, Mommy! Did I make two turd bombers Mommy?”