Let the Games Begin

Saturday morning Kinley ran into our bedroom to announce that "there is water EVERYWHERE in the kitchen!" Now in Kinley language that could mean "spilled on the table". I didn't feel very concerned. Just irritated that the first thing I would do for the morning would be mop up a spill.

As I staggered, bleary eyed into the kitchen I discovered that "everywhere" in fact meant "EVERYWHERE!"

Seems our industrious two year old plugged up both sinks, turned on the water and skidaddled...for quite awhile. There was one inch of water covering the entire kitchen floor and one drawer (the one nearest the sinks) was FULL of water.

Lake Silas was not to be constrained to the kitchen, however. A tributary found its way to Daddy's office....one lovely little stream running through every briefcase, backpack and stack of papers to the....power strip, transformer and electrical wires. All plugged in. Oh. My. Goodness.

I LOVE to wake up and panic. It really gets those juices flowing.

I gingerly unplugged and mopped...salvaged and dried.

With many little moppers on hand...we had the kitchen dried after about an hour. An hour.

Whew.

Apparently this was only the beginning. Since the Kitchen Flood, Silas has been keeping busy. He has dumped and trailed a box of Rice Krispies from the kitchen cabinet to the floor of the living room, poured a full pitcher of lemonade on the table and filled several cups with juice and restacked them into the cupboard (only discovered when a trail of ants led the way). He has gorged on Tootsie Rolls (3 or 4 in his mouth at once)...dropped almost every AA battery we had BEHIND the freezer, and harrassed his siblings mercilessly. This morning during Bible class I discovered the smiles and giggles were not results of my delightful story telling...but instead were directed at Silas...emptying the diaper bag out behind me, throwing each item into the air.

Don't even get me started on naps and bedtimes.

It seems we are passing through another phase...one that demands Mom's keenest wit and sharpest thought.( Any idea where I could pick those up? I've misplaced what used to be mine...)

We are working our way through the discipline genre...timeouts, priveleges taken away, toys taken away and even swats. Nothing is getting his attention though...

So I resort to the ever satisfying...never effective method of...

Shouting his name...

"SILAS RYAN!!!"

My wits may have gone the way of my pre-pregnancy jeans...but I will never lose the Motherly gift of double naming my children...

For some reason...it grabs at least one moment of attention...and at this point in the game...I'll take whatever I can get.