Ok, poor grammar aside, I have a lesson.
My children learnt a lesson.
I learnt a lesson.
Whilst I was stomping around my house - endless square metre of it - vacuuming up (yes, with my dodgy, hold it weird, vacuum cleaner) BEADS.
I must confess, I thought of my beading friends. People like sweet Marsha, away far-away in Oklahoma. She makes beautiful things with beads.
My children, it seems, do NOT make beautiful things with beads.
Sorry, correction. I have, in the past, had lovely child-made necklaces, as gifts. Much love and care went into the production of these items.
Love and care, which it seems, does not apply to the beads at other points.
It transpires that some of my children had sat in a bunk bed and THROWN them on the floor.
Think seed beads, bigger wooden beads, bigger glass beads, plastic beads, shaped beads. A veritable bead-fest.
All over the boys' bedroom floor, all over the girls' bedroom floor, on the landing in between, down the stairs, and even on the hall floor. It seems that beads can get anywhere. Everywhere.
Thing is, they have been in trouble before, for not caring for these beads.
I had said, in my frustration "If those beads get on the floor again, they are GONE".
Well, I didn't have to think twice before carrying through on that threat. No, siree.
Out came the vacuum, which I stomped upstairs with - lugging it behind me, with all the effort I could muster. I thought it would be the simplest way to deal with it - I figured picking them up by hand would be tedious.
Well, I vacuumed. It was no easy task. Did you know beads will "ping" around if you hit them at the wrong angle? I should think it was a good thing no small children were nearby. They could have lost a body part, VERY easily. Plus, did you know that in an empty Dyson, bazillions of beads rattling around make an EXTREMELY loud noise. Like, INSANELY loud. That was sending me round the twist, all on its own. THEN, did you know that if you try and vacuum up things BIGGER, or EQUAL to the size of the nozzle, they will get stuck? Funny, huh? I repeatedly had to bang the hose on the floor, when thousands of beads would come flooding out, along with the offending over-sized bead. It was kind of pretty, had I been in the frame of mind to appreciate it. I am not convinced, the other side of this experience, that vacuuming is the quickest way to sort it all out. I had started, so I finished.
The good thing about a time-consuming operation like that, is, you get plenty of time to think.
What was I so mad about?
(Trust me, I was fuming.)
Was the whole thing not of my own making???
*I* bought the beads.
*I* did not train them properly to take care of them.
*I* did not train the owner to keep them WELL out of the way.
Yes, the children had been naughty. The offenders KNEW they shouldn't throw things around, and they should look after things that don't even belong to them.
However, I realised that I could have avoided some of it.
I have decided some things, and I shall share them for the possible benefit of others.
I will not buy things, at this period of our lives, that will cause inordinate amounts of mess, which will make life harder. If, and I say IF, my daughters express a burning desire to enter the world of jewellery making, when they are OLD ENOUGH to be responsible, then the can do so.
Now? No.
Maybe other families are far better at containing mess. We are not. So, the potential mess shall not enter herein. I will carefully assess any potential item to enter our home, and decide whether it will be more hassle than it's worth.
I think a huge stress reliever is AVOIDING mess in the first place. I have equally got rid of other toys, in the past, with lots of "bits". I now restrict such toys to Playmobil and Lego. All else has been eradicated form this domicile.
I would love my girls to pursue crafty interests, but not now. Not until the littles are bigger and the bigger are bigger, too.
The crazy thing about the beads? *I* bought them. We weren't even given them as an "I wish you hadn't bought my child that" gift. Those are awkward enough. I put this own misery in my own future.
*sigh*
Lesson learnt.
It *WOULD* have to be within the same short space of time that I had to wrestle with the havoc wreaked by polystyrene. (Did you know THAT could stick to walls, chairs, tables, floors, books, clothes, hair?... EVERYTHING, I reckon....)
Another discovery? Doing mundane work is a great time to assess your life, and to make wise decisions. Maybe I should be doing more mundane work?....
Well, I certainly won't be going out looking for it, but the lesson is that every onerous occasion can lead to something good.
Therein endeth my rant.
The End.
(Oh, hang on - other than to say that I successfully burnt some carrots in a saucepan, whilst typing this post.... *sigh again*)
My children learnt a lesson.
I learnt a lesson.
Whilst I was stomping around my house - endless square metre of it - vacuuming up (yes, with my dodgy, hold it weird, vacuum cleaner) BEADS.
I must confess, I thought of my beading friends. People like sweet Marsha, away far-away in Oklahoma. She makes beautiful things with beads.
My children, it seems, do NOT make beautiful things with beads.
Sorry, correction. I have, in the past, had lovely child-made necklaces, as gifts. Much love and care went into the production of these items.
Love and care, which it seems, does not apply to the beads at other points.
It transpires that some of my children had sat in a bunk bed and THROWN them on the floor.
Think seed beads, bigger wooden beads, bigger glass beads, plastic beads, shaped beads. A veritable bead-fest.
All over the boys' bedroom floor, all over the girls' bedroom floor, on the landing in between, down the stairs, and even on the hall floor. It seems that beads can get anywhere. Everywhere.
Thing is, they have been in trouble before, for not caring for these beads.
I had said, in my frustration "If those beads get on the floor again, they are GONE".
Well, I didn't have to think twice before carrying through on that threat. No, siree.
Out came the vacuum, which I stomped upstairs with - lugging it behind me, with all the effort I could muster. I thought it would be the simplest way to deal with it - I figured picking them up by hand would be tedious.
Well, I vacuumed. It was no easy task. Did you know beads will "ping" around if you hit them at the wrong angle? I should think it was a good thing no small children were nearby. They could have lost a body part, VERY easily. Plus, did you know that in an empty Dyson, bazillions of beads rattling around make an EXTREMELY loud noise. Like, INSANELY loud. That was sending me round the twist, all on its own. THEN, did you know that if you try and vacuum up things BIGGER, or EQUAL to the size of the nozzle, they will get stuck? Funny, huh? I repeatedly had to bang the hose on the floor, when thousands of beads would come flooding out, along with the offending over-sized bead. It was kind of pretty, had I been in the frame of mind to appreciate it. I am not convinced, the other side of this experience, that vacuuming is the quickest way to sort it all out. I had started, so I finished.
The good thing about a time-consuming operation like that, is, you get plenty of time to think.
What was I so mad about?
(Trust me, I was fuming.)
Was the whole thing not of my own making???
*I* bought the beads.
*I* did not train them properly to take care of them.
*I* did not train the owner to keep them WELL out of the way.
Yes, the children had been naughty. The offenders KNEW they shouldn't throw things around, and they should look after things that don't even belong to them.
However, I realised that I could have avoided some of it.
I have decided some things, and I shall share them for the possible benefit of others.
I will not buy things, at this period of our lives, that will cause inordinate amounts of mess, which will make life harder. If, and I say IF, my daughters express a burning desire to enter the world of jewellery making, when they are OLD ENOUGH to be responsible, then the can do so.
Now? No.
Maybe other families are far better at containing mess. We are not. So, the potential mess shall not enter herein. I will carefully assess any potential item to enter our home, and decide whether it will be more hassle than it's worth.
I think a huge stress reliever is AVOIDING mess in the first place. I have equally got rid of other toys, in the past, with lots of "bits". I now restrict such toys to Playmobil and Lego. All else has been eradicated form this domicile.
I would love my girls to pursue crafty interests, but not now. Not until the littles are bigger and the bigger are bigger, too.
The crazy thing about the beads? *I* bought them. We weren't even given them as an "I wish you hadn't bought my child that" gift. Those are awkward enough. I put this own misery in my own future.
*sigh*
Lesson learnt.
It *WOULD* have to be within the same short space of time that I had to wrestle with the havoc wreaked by polystyrene. (Did you know THAT could stick to walls, chairs, tables, floors, books, clothes, hair?... EVERYTHING, I reckon....)
Another discovery? Doing mundane work is a great time to assess your life, and to make wise decisions. Maybe I should be doing more mundane work?....
Well, I certainly won't be going out looking for it, but the lesson is that every onerous occasion can lead to something good.
Therein endeth my rant.
The End.
(Oh, hang on - other than to say that I successfully burnt some carrots in a saucepan, whilst typing this post.... *sigh again*)
Oh dear Caroline!! This made me laugh out loud!! I totally understand and have the same conversation with myself sometimes about the fact that it was I who bought that silly thing in the first place! I feel that way about lego! I also don't buy my boys things that are going to be messy. Like definitely no glitter of any kind for crafts, I hardly do any painting with them and I don't like play-doh either!
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