Keepin' it Real

Had a long (and somewhat hard) day. In the evening I sat down to post about Eva's birthday and her birth--only 12 months after the fact. This is still hard for me to think and write about which means that I had better do just that! I came across this article tonight and it made me laugh. Enjoy! You can find it here.

When life with kids isn't perfect, don't forget to laugh

April 27th, 2011 @ 4:53pm

By Lindsay Ferguson, ksl.com contributor

SALT LAKE COUNTY — We are all in need of a reality check once in a while. In some way or another, kids tend to facilitate this. Take, for example, when a semi-naughty word loudly escapes your child’s mouth in front of a less-than-amused stranger at the grocery store. It's a particularly good lesson when you guiltily realize your little one's radar ears must have picked up on what you mumbled under your breath a few hours earlier.

"Reality check: I'm not perfect. My kid isn't perfect. ... Life goes on, and, in the end, the only thing to do about it is laugh (after first correcting the misdemeanor, of course)."

Reality check: I’m not perfect. My kid isn’t perfect. Life isn’t filled with perfect situations all the time. But that’s OK! Life goes on, and, in the end, the only thing to do about it is laugh (after first correcting the misdemeanor, of course), move on and learn from the experience.

These little reality checks sometimes turn into humbling experiences, and I’ve come to realize this isn’t always necessarily a bad thing. But as some will relate, in certain instances, a humbling experience can sometimes translate into an awkward and even embarrassing one.

My husband and I and our two young children moved into a new house a few months back. Since then, we have been busy working at getting the house situated and put together. Like most have probably experienced, when moving into a new home there’s a certain level of excitement that comes along with getting to show your new residence to family and friends.

A few weeks ago, some members of my husband’s extended family visited us at our house for the first time. We were excited to have guests and made sure toys were picked up off the ground and everything was presentable before they arrived.

After we gave the tour, everyone gathered in the family room to play games. My husband's cousin and his wife sat down on one of our couches. After a short time, I noticed they looked a bit uncomfortable and were sitting more stiffly than I would think necessary on our comfy, overstuffed couch. I observed them subtly exchange sideways glances, and a hint of awkwardness lingered in the air.

I wasn’t sure what was going on, but they were obviously uncomfortable for some reason. I wanted to say something but wasn’t sure what. As I was about to ask if they needed something, my husband’s cousin spoke up.

"We tried explaining, but there really wasn't much to say other than 'sorry' and 'we're so embarrassed.' You can't really give excuses in that type of circumstance. It is what it is."

“Ummmm,” he said as he pointed his finger downward to the couch cushion between him and his wife, “I think there is … a … well, small ball of poop on this couch."

My eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “A what?” I exclaimed.

“It’s kind of stinky too,” he added.

Surely he must be mistaken! I thought. I jumped up from my spot on the ground to take a look at the evidence.

Sure enough, a ball of poop about the size of a marble sat between my husband’s cousin and his wife. At that moment I was desperately wishing we had a dog on which I could blame the misdeed.

My mind flashed back to earlier that day when I had changed my son’s diaper on the couch while he was watching a TV show, something my husband has said we should never do or something just might “escape.” But I took the easy route, changing him on the couch, and it resulted in a rolling, stinky escapee. Of course, the one time this happened was when we had family visitors.

We were mortified and, of course, quickly removed the specimen. We tried explaining, but there really wasn’t much to say other than “sorry” and “we’re so embarrassed.” You can’t really give excuses in that type of circumstance. It is what it is.

Again, this experience brought us down to reality: the one in which we are those people that have little balls of their children’s poop unexpectedly rolling around on their furniture. Just kidding! No, reality is that life isn’t always perfect. Showing off your new home doesn’t always go the way you anticipate.

But if life were full of only “perfect” experiences it would get pretty boring, right? I’ve had more and more of these types of experiences since being a mom. At the time it can be a little awkward, but I’ve learned to grit my teeth and get through the moment, and, most importantly, jot the experience down in my journal because there is nothing that will get me laughing more than reading back on these funny little memories.

----- Lindsay Ferguson is a full-time mother of two and works from home as a part-time PR writer. In her spare time she enjoys writing about everyday life and the humor found in it. She keeps up a blog at www.lifeasamomuncut.blogspot.com.