The Flat Screen Babysitter

We watched Princess and the Frog today.

As a parent you may feel guilty for the flat screen babysitter, but not me, not anymore.

I used to ask myself everyday, was there more I could’ve done today? But now I ask myself what more COULD I have done? From the moment I wake up I’m wiping hinny and face interchangeably every 15 minutes. In between those 15 mins I’m either; cooking breakfast, lunch, or dinner, cleaning up after the baby, dog, cat, or myself, doing work, and/or keeping my baby from thinking she’s an extra on mission impossible.

Whoever said that being a mom is equivalent to a full time job has obviously never been around kids. This saying is an UNDERSTATEMENT, I’m not complaining or anything but, you get to clock out at work. Shout-out to all the parents in the world! Whether you stay at home, work full time, or both, these kids do not make it easy on us! On top of caring for a tiny human we have to take care of ourselves. Along with taking care of ourselves we also have to make the money to do so, am I right?

So we watched Princess and the Frog today.

Kids pick up on everything, we tend to forget how smart our little offsprings are. Every second they are learning and growing. When you’re trying to squeeze in a 10-minute workout while your toddler is distracted by legos, they are learning. Whether it’s differentiating the colors of the blocks, architecture, or how to achieve the perfect abs with Denise Austin, they are learning.

I tried to teach my daughter nursery rhymes but coco melon beat me to the punch.

At a time, I was obsessed with flash cards and too strict routines and it was making my life miserable. Things happen, it’s inevitable, so my routines and scheduled learning times became more of a fantasy for me. Maybe one day I’ll get back to that once I have a better grasp of my own life. For now, I need a little extra help distracting the little one while I’m trying to get back to me. Having a hobby or downtime is essential in keeping ones sanity.

So we watched Princess and the Frog today.

I peaked behind the canvas I was painting and saw my daughter dancing along to, “When We’re Human,” and it made my heart smile. She can’t quite sing the words but she belted out notes anyway. She can’t quite dance but she dangled her little arms in front of her as she tried to bounce up and down like a frog. A cheesy 8 toothed smile was stuck on her face and I could feel the happiness pouring out of her, it was overwhelming.

I can’t help but get sucked into the madness sometimes, before I know it I’m bouncing around the house right behind her. The movie is meant to distract the child so I can get work done and often times I find myself the one distracted. Then of course, like clockwork, my dog and cat run around the house as if to join in on the fun. We would make an excellent circus all we need is a big top.

To see my child happy makes me happy and it brings me peace. To know she’s being productive, learning, and happy gives me exactly what I need to keep going. I was able to paint a canvas and finish a chapter of my book today and my daughter was able to watch her favorite movie among all the other fun, productive things we did. A typical win win situation this was.

After we got done getting ready for bed, we ended the night with our own rendition of “Almost There.” I laid my daughter in her crib as she tried to fight her giggles from our silly singing and the little tickles I was sneaking in. Her smile was toothy as ever as she tried to say goodnight and from this I knew we had a very good day. I’m glad we watched Princess and the Frog today, we might just watch it again tomorrow.