Third Time's a Charm!

Yesterday afternoon a friend of mine and I finally connected on the phone after about a week (that's a long time for us!). About three minutes into the conversation, I heard a crash in the living room. I had been putting Baby Mouse's clothes away, making trips to and from the living room. Neither girl was napping. What could that crash have been??

I ran to check it out. From the looks of things, it appeared that Miss Mouse had been messing with the aloe vera plant and tipped it off the plant stand. I remained calm (part of my new "less-Type-A-so-that-the-girls-aren't-crazy-parenting-method) but sent her to her room to play for a semi-time-out. I went about the process of cleaning up the mess. First comes the little vacuum to get the main mess out of the carpet. Next, the big guy comes out to make sure there are no remnants that could cause stains or sneezes. Good job, mess cleaned up.

Think again. I decided to water the plants while I was thinking of it. Bad idea. I happened to bump the newly-replanted aloe vera and tipped it over myself this time. Both vacuums came back out. Good job, mess cleaned up.

The next brilliant idea was that I should move my fern plant which appears to be drying up and withering to an area where it will get less sunlight. As I moved the fern plant, I again bumped the aloe vera, spilling the entire contents of the pot a third time!! By this point, even Baby Mouse seemed amused as she watched me from her spot on the floor. I'm pretty sure she was silently laughing as I drug out both vacuums again.

Miss Mouse had come out of her room at some point in this disaster, so I asked if she had tipped the plant on purpose or just bumped it. She doesn't yet have the concept of lying to protect herself (though I'm sure it won't be long before she figures out that "trick"), so I believed her completely when she answered "just bumped it". I certainly didn't set out to tip it twice myself, either! Good grief. After closer examination, I now see that the screws are stripped on that platform of the plant stand, allowing the platform to just flop back and forth.

I'm starting a Santa list: new plant stand.