No Pain! No Gain!

A term we hear often, but not necessarily when it comes to parenting. But I have decided we should really change that. Seems to me that parenting is often a balance act of either pain or gain!

For example, take the Binky, when your child is young it may be a saving grace. She/he gets quite, takes a nap, sleeps through the night, just gets comfortable, ect. However, one day you have to take that binky away or deal with a 4yr old walking around with a binky in the mouth, which lets all get real we have all talked about that parent behind their back whose child still walks around with a binky in their mouth while speaking full sentences to you.
See no pain, no gain! You either suffer through the a week of crying and pitching a fit for the binky when you take it away, suffer through an unhappy infant if you are anti binky from the get go, or you are that parent that we all talk about behind your back.

It doesn't have to be a binky. It can be and will be and for me is! A million different daily instances that pop up that I can either suffer through and get something accomplished, or relinquish another win to my 3 year old.
Tonight---it was PLAYDOUGH! Yes to those who have no children Playdough is dreaded by all. It is messy, kids get it everywhere, they do not understand that you can not dig it out of carpet, they eat it (which thankfully it is non toxic), the dogs eat it, it gets meshed into an odd brown color within a few hours of being opened, and is just a general pain in the ass.

Tonight though, I didn't care. I would trade a mess at the kitchen table, for a few solid hours of cleaning and packing and just in general peace and quite. Kaje sat at the kitchen table with his 5 small cans of already oddly colored brown playdough, his Playdough hamburger maker play set and that was all he wrote for about 2 hrs. DO you have any idea how much stuff you can get done in 2 hours of not having a 3 year old at your feet?...?....?...? Let me sum it up for you...

In 2 hours I: folding 3 loads of laundry, changed 2 beds of sheets, vacuumed my small 5 room home, ran a load of dishes, made dinner, started 2 loads of laundry and place one in the dryer, cleaned two bathrooms, took out all of the trash in the house, packed for a trip to Virginia, dusted and very dusty house, made all of the toys that were anywhere but the playroom reappear in the play room, sat down and watched about 20 minutes of uninterrupted news.

Wow! I may have to suffer through some more Playdough pain if it means I can get this much done!