Can't Have Things

Jude laid out his Christmas outfit on top of Ralph the mouse's cage.
Needless to say, we had to make a quick outfit change early that morning.

Have you ever heard that phrase, "can't have nice things"?

Well we say that a lot around this house.

Except OUR version is simply, "can't have things".

We don't own nice anything.
Besides we can't even seem to be able to keep up with the simple, ordinary, USED things around here!

I mean, we literally break at least ONE thing almost EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

From leather car seat punctures to cooking scissors snapped in half.
Sliced open tennis shoes to shattered storm windows.

And it's not just the kids.
It's the adults too!
But mostly the kids.
Three male ones in particular.

It has actually become quite comical...after the occasional bad word has been uttered in frustration of course.

Take Saturday the 11th, for example. The broken list consisted of the riding mower, a keyring and a camping chair.

Sunday: a wall hanging in the boys room, to which Cai said, "I don't want it to be broken today because it's Mother's Day!" A sweet heart this one has. He wanted to gift me with a day of no broken things. Wouldn't that have just been the best?!

One day we said goodbye to a ceramic bowl, a drinking glass and a cheese grater.

Wear and tear are responsible for some losses.
The boy's chore of unloading the dishwasher is the culprit for SO MANY others.
Oh the price we pay for trying to engrain hard work and responsibility into these kids*sigh*.

Last Saturday it was another camping chair and a fort roof.

Barbie wanted her hair straightened. Too bad it made her bald!
Lemon oil came to the rescue so my straightener was raised to life.
Barbie's hair wasn't so lucky.

A couple weeks ago someone "accidentally forgot" they shouldn't sit on the serving tray that resides on the coffee table in the living room.

Gorilla glue, crazy glue, duct tape and glue guns have been my saving grace over the years for all the things that get brought to me through tears and remorse.

But sadly most things just can't be fixed by hot-glueing them together, like the arm to one of Cai's Minecraft characters or the punctured hole in the recliner.  We're still working on why hot glue guns can't fix EVERYTHING, ha!

I just have to say, before you cast judgement on me for my kid's feelings of shame and remorse. These feelings are of their own making, I swear!

I have become quite good at controlling my feelings of all said broken things.  I put on my even-tempered I-don't-care-that-my-pearl-earing-just-fell-out-of-your-ear-somewhere-in-the-woods-NOR-that-my-favorite-basket-just-got-crushed-because-you-thought-it-would-be-fun-to-tie-a-string-to-it-and-ride-your-siblings-up-and-down-the-hallway face as I repeat my daily mantra, "it's ok, it's no big deal, I know you didn't mean to."

Just a normal day will be sprinkled with insignificant losses such as a spatula, a pair of socks and a flower vase.

A very sad day was when 2 holes were punctured through one of my favorite blankets (thanks a lot Jemma) and we lost our pizza cutter due to lack of emotional control, ahem...

We are currently lacking two light fixtures (one in the living room and the other in the boys room...because boys and balls don't remember they are supposed to play together OUTSIDE!)

Monday and Tuesday were good days for all things en la Colony casa this week. Miracles still do happen!

But today came in strong with a broken thermometer and then a snapped bean plant sitting on the windowsill waiting to be transplanted. But don't worry, the day is still young.  There are still plenty of opportunities to practice the habit of not caring too deeply about stuff.

We figure we are just working on holding things loosely, we say.
We are encouraging creativity and resourcefulness, we say.
Things come and things go, we say.
They are all God's things anyway, we say...
...as a tear quietly slips down my face as yet another object gets thrown into the trash can. (kidding...kind of)

I know you other moms (or teachers, or grandparents, or any other living human, being for the love!) out their can relate.
So don't worry and don't fret, more things are most definitely going to break in the very near future.
You can start reciting my mantra through clenched teeth and tears at first (because that is how it used to be for me) until it slides off the tongue a little easier with every broken thing that gets brought to you.

Put that smile back on your face, hug your kids (or husband, or cats, or neighbor, or self if you must), remind them that you still love them, and that THEY are  more important than any of that stuff anyway.

And then you can silently laugh and tell yourself, "can't have things".

***UP NEXT: what to do when you keep finding your missing kitchen utensils 

and dishes outside buried in the dirt***