Becoming A Professional Picker-Upper

I had to chuckle.

When I jumped on google to see how to “spell”
picker upper (for fear there was some weird way of doing so), this definition
popped up:

“something that restores one’s depleted energy or
depressed spirits; pick-me-up”

Well that wasn’t necessarily what I was going for. Though I
laughed because really, becoming a professional picker-upper I felt, was FAR
from restoring my depleted energy.

Let me explain.

Mazy and I stepped back into the house after playing outside
for awhile and she found our spice drawer. I though “eh, not a big deal,
they are only plastic. She doesn’t know how to take the covers off.”

I was wrong.

I walked back into the kitchen and saw this:

After I had that cleaned up, she was playing with our lazy susan in the kitchen and found the saltine crackers. Again, I thought “eh, she won’t be able to make too big of a mess because they are hard to get out.”

I was wrong.

Her little sneaky hands got a few out and though she was enjoying an afternoon snack (fine by me), she managed to get one stuck to her bottom. As she scooted, it just left a crumb trail.

Really, I laughed. It was rather funny, even though I got
our handy-dandy hand vac out for the 4th time that day. But I still chuckled
because it was so cute.

Then I thought to myself, sometimes I feel like I am
becoming a professional picker-upper. Do you ever feel that way? Do you feel
like the only thing you accomplish in a day is just picking up after the
messes? Do you feel like your energy is depleted because you are wiping hands,
brushing off, picking up, for the 100th time that day?

Well, it really matters.

Our little cream of tartar incident in the kitchen, had me
on my hands and knees, but I treasured that moment. I WANTED that moment for so
long. When I first saw the mess, for 2 seconds I thought oh my goodness, what a
MESS, but then I laughed. Mazy looked up at me like “what Mom?” She
was having a blast. She was proud that she figured out how to unscrew the cap
(yeah, don’t ever think your child doesn’t know how to do something!)

It really was a proud moment. She tested her fine motor
skills and succeeded. She was having fun rubbing her feet in it since it was a
different texture she hadn’t felt before. To her, there was no harm done. And
to me, the only harm done was now I am out of cream of tartar. NBD (no big deal
for you non-texters).

When my husband came home, I told him I didn’t get much
done, but really, I had. Our house was fairly picked up and if I tallied the
number of times I cleaned up, wiped up, or picked up something, I would need a
bigger chalkboard. And I was okay and thankful for it. My child had fun that
day. Minimal tears (except when she woke up hard from a nap), and she learned
new words, new skills, and we had a blast doing it.

Maybe you feel like you are becoming a professional
picker-upper. Well, I hope that this post is truly a “picker-upper”
for you, in it’s true definition. Picking up those toys is a big deal. It’s
actually a life-changing deal. It shows that your child was well-loved that
day. That maybe they were learning something new that day. That you took the
time to sit down with them and interact on their level. You may feel like
that’s all you do, but beyond the act is LOVE.

You are loving your child to the fullest. You are loving
them for who they are – their exploring and curious side. How else are our
children going to learn if we take everything out of the cupboards? How else
are our children going to learn if we don’t let them make a mess of our homes?
How else are our children going to learn if we don’t get right down there with
them, showing them and loving them at the same time?

I am happy to say that I am working on my degree of becoming
a professional picker-upper.

I have a ways to go and a few more years of
“schooling”, but before I know it, I will be graduated because so
will my daughter. She will no longer need me to pick up after her b/c she will
be able to do it herself. She won’t need me like she does now. Our house will
no longer be messy. And I will wish for those days back.

And that is when I will wish I had never graduated.