Sunday, December 16, 2007

The Toothbrush Tragedy, a deux

So, ya know, you try at this time of the year not to give in to the demands, nay almost blackmail, your children give you for toys and things using the excuse that soon it will be Christmas and thus no presents are forthcoming today.

But then there are 3 year olds, who are not really aware of the date let alone are they capable of working their minds around "a couple of days" let alone "Santa will bring it for you on Christmas" as I have found out this week.

It was a practical stop at Target, not meant to include any sort of toy or gify buying. Little did I know that an automatic Hello Kitty Toothbrush and Toothpaste combo would be so appealing. I thought I had dodged the bullet by saying that Santa would bring it to her on Christmas. Little did I know that S.O.v.2 couldn't concieve quite yet that Christmas was more than a week away and she would have to wait that long. She thought I meant Santa would bring it to her before it was time to brush her teeth that night!

I had completely forgotten about the toothbrush when bedtime came and it took a good long while of fuss and crying before I got her to tell me that Santa had disappointed her. Reason not being very effective on toddlers either, she was not calmed at the prospect of me promising to go get the toothbrush "tomorrow". She kept insisting that she wanted Santa to bring it on Christmas, believing that was actually before tomorrow. There's that whole problem with the time space continuum again. I get that too though, especially around my birthday when it just doesn't feel possible that I turned WHAT! age again?!

This morning I went back to Target again, this time for Christmas shopping - ick on a Satuday, what am I insane!? - and promised I would bring home aforementioned Hello Kitty Toothbrush. Well of course you can't bring home for one and not the other. S.O.v.1 needed a new toothbrush anyway so... but they didn't have any Cars automatic toothbrushes so I figured I'd just get a Cars regular toothbrush and look in another store later for an automatic one - afterall we got Cars toothpaste for him yesterday, which was why I was in the oral hygene aisle to begin with! He won't mind, he'll understand, he's 5!

OK, so as teeth brushing commences with one happy toddler whirring away I notice S.O.v.2 holding his new toothbrush, neat little cylinder of brand new toothpaste, not brushing looking sad. And all over again...

Of course the larger problem is really that their world has kind of turned upside down. S.O. has recently been fired from his overworking underappreciating underpaying company and is now home all the time. I on the other hand have been working more with new projects coming online, writing assignments and my company making a film, so I am home way less than I used to be. I finally worked it out of S.O.v.1 that he is really missing the routine he'd become accustomed to, and was feeling that when I am home I am too busy with chores (listen up ladies, just because he's home all the time doesn't mean he's doing all the housework, as if!).

Man... what are ya gonna do? Well, I guess the bathroom can wait... the babies can't, not really.

1 comment:

demondoll said...

I feel ya. I started a part-time job, and we have yet to find our rhythm.