"Oopsh...ees ok."

Three "words" I hear far too many times a day in a high, breathy little Munchkin voice. At first, the words made the hair on the back of my neck stand up because I knew that something had gone horribly wrong. After a few episodes, I came to realize that the disasters playing out in my imagination were always a hundred times worse than the crayon scribbles on the table, spilled cereal, torn book pages or broken toys.

While it was frustrating and annoying at first, after a while it made me stop and think. She's getting into repeating what we're saying. She must have heard me say "Oops! It's okay" enough times to know that the world won't come to an end if something gets spilled or broken. This may not sound like much to you, but it's a bit of a breakthrough for me.

You see, I don't like messes. I like things to stay looking new. I hate when things get broken and I loath having to spend money to replace them. Why did I have a baby, you ask? Crazy, I know. But the longer I have one, the more I come to realize that things are things. You probably already knew that, but it was a lesson I needed to learn. I'm devastated when my clothes shrink or get a hole in them, my world crumbled when our car got hit for the first time (within 3 months of us driving it off the lot, no less) and my heart stopped every time Teagan got within 10 feet of our new microfiber couches with her greasy, grubby little fingers.

Enter our "new" couches.

We scored a MAJOR deal on a couch, love seat, chair & ottoman and a recliner. All were used, but in good condition. The fact that they came with scratches and a few spots of nail polish (nothing a convenient pillow placement can't hide) makes anything Teagan does to them insignificant. (I hope I don't come to regret that statement.)
The timing of my post couldn't have been better, as I had my own "Oops...ees ok" moment last night. I was dancing around the kitchen to One Direction (wait, that isn't the most embarrassing part) and knocked our griddle off the counter, cracking the handle. Wait for it...
Then WHILE apologizing to Brandon for breaking it, I went to put it away and dropped it, smashing the handle and one of the legs completely. 

Brandon just laughed it off. His easygoing nature is one of the many things I love and admire about him. I told him if the tables had been turned and he'd broken the griddle, he never would have heard the end of it from me. He never overreacts about anything, so he balances me out well and I hope one day to be able to adopt his forgiving nature and perspective. He always tells me that things can be replaced, and I always ask him if he's come into some money I should know about. :)

It's a hard thing to fight - I think I've always been this way - that is, concerned about things and the state of those things. I distinctly remember an incident on my 17th birthday. I'd received a pot of shimmery Revlon eyeshadow from a friend and was sitting on my bed applying it and admiring it. My Mum came in for one of our heart-to-hearts and sat down next to me, spilling the container, dumping 1/2 of the contents on my bed. I snapped. At my Mum. I freaked out. On my Mum. I'll never forget the hurt look on her face as she got up and left the room. I'll always regret my reaction over something so insignificant (in fact, I still have the eyeshadow laying around, unused for the better part of a decade.) SO not worth it.

It seems like patience and remaining calm in the face of messes come naturally to everyone but me, but I'm working on taking things in stride. I've taken to buying/using previously owned things, especially when Teagan is involved. While it doesn't fix my attitude or way of thinking, it helps me avoid situations where I might place things about people on my list of priorities. I think it's made me a nicer Mum and I hope to become increasingly nicer. When Teagan tells me "ees ok" it makes me feel like I'm doing a better job of teaching her that things are things and I'm doing my best to make sure she understands that as long as she's safe and happy, "ees ok." And that's what matters.