I think I am too old for this!!!

I had a Tanner... he made me tired. He was a child that got into everything, all of the time, in more ways than I could even express. He would climb on the fridge... the top of the fridge, in the middle of the night, to get himself some cereal. Did I mention he was ONE? The fridge stood out from the wall, there were no chairs, no tables, nothing for him to climb on, yet I would find here there, yelling for me to get him down. I also would find butter knives in the cheese... I thought we either had smart mice, or somebody could sneak up at night and get into the fridge. Yes, Tanner... at ONE could do this. It didn't matter what I did to prevent his nightly adventures, he still managed. But I was young, I was in shape... I could deal with it!

Willie came later... and he made Tanner look mellow. I would find him with the toilet plunger on his face. I would find him covered in Vaseline. We had more plugged toilets because he had flushed something down it yet again. It got to where Thayne just bought extra toilet seals... 4 times in one week he took it off to get something unstuck. He covered himself in peanut butter, Vaseline, oil, flour, sugar... I had more gallons of kool-aid spilled, more times when I cleaned up messes that made me want to vomit... locked doors didn't stop him and he had no fear. But I was young... older than with Tanner, but still, young enough to keep up.

But now Nate... I am TOO OLD to do another Willie. The Lord has the greatest sense of humor. We spend every minute of the day keeping that child alive his first year. Shouldn't I have get a break? Haven't I earned it? Don't I deserve it? Come on... he's the 15th... he should be kind and mellow and the toilet plunger should never be something he would play with. RIGHT??? No really, RIGHT? Well... I was wrong! And age has caught up with me. I no longer have the stamina and energy to clean him up after the 67th time he somehow managed to get into the toilet, used the toilet brush to brush his hair and oh, I can't even think of what he was doing with the plunger! He is giving Willie a run for the money. Child safety locks... what are those? Aren't they supposed to keep a child OUT of things? How can I expect him to be normal when he is the center of the universe to at least 16 other people? He grabs a cell phone and acts like he is texting, he moves things around in order to climb higher and get into more. You literally cannot turn your back on him. He walked into the back room, came back and climbed up on a paint can he had pushed in from that room, got himself one of his spoons, closed the drawer (because he will close the drawers and cupboards, likely to cover the evidence!) and went back in the room. I found him with a cup of water, stirring the dog food. I am not young anymore.... in fact I am going to be a grandma soon. This kid is going to make me absolutely crazy before all is said and done! He is far too smart for his own good... he is almost 17 months, going on 17. He thinks he should be able to have his own i-pod, cell phone, remote control for the tv. He thinks he should be able to go out and play and do what he wants, when he wants, however he wants. Though just to be nice... he does love to get the broom and dust pan out and sweet the kitchen and he thinks mopping is a great past time too...it doesn't help me much since he is usually yelling at me to give him these things while I am trying to clean! And I better find a way to at least get back in shape, because I am not getting any younger, but I need to do something to be able to keep up with him! What a kid!!! Please be kind to your mom Naters!