Top 10 Lessons of 2011

1. Do not try to clean sand (or really, anything) from a potty training toddler's pants at the park.  You might get more than you bargained for.  (flashback to me, holding up my hand in horror, covered with poo at a park with no running water and Josh laughing at me)
2. Resist the urge to call 911 when your daughter has a collision with a coffee table and is bleeding out of her face.  There was a lot of blood.  It actually crossed my mind to call.  I didn't.  Instead, we made a trip to the ER and paid $845 for glue and steri strips.  Maybe resist the urge to go the ER would be another one.  
3. Don't feel guilty for not enjoying every moment of parenthood.  Thank you, Momastery.com, for pointing out the difference between the kairos(listening to them giggle and play together peacefully) moments and the chronos (doctor's office diarrhea) moments.  
4. Kids save weird things.  Cleaning out the playroom baskets is an adventure.  Twist ties, Christmas ribbon, dried play dough, paper with scribbled art work, a doll arm, an empty baby shampoo bottle...."Mom!  You can't throw that away! I was saving that!"  
5. Kids can be mean and it makes me want to hit them when they are mean to mine.  I can't help it.  I just do.  I mean, I don't actually hit them, but I want to.  Instead, I just give them dirty looks and hope their mothers aren't watching me.  You know what? I don't care if their mothers are watching me.  I'll give them a dirty look, too.
6. It is a TERRIBLE idea to take children to the grocery store after 4:30 p.m.  I don't know what happens, but they shouldn't be allowed in public places after this hour.  
7. We are not old enough to go to the  movie theatre yet.  ($27 for tickets, $10 popcorn, $7 drinks+getting there early to get good seats+1/2 hour of previews+small children=leaving after about 30 minutes after the movie begins)
8. Our kids are never going to sleep late. I must give up on this dream.
9. No matter how many times you tell them not to, kids are going to cut hair (on dolls, horses, each other) if left alone with craft scissors.  After finding little piles of fuzz, Rapunzel hair, and finally Sophia's hair, I learned my lesson and took the scissors away.  
10. Bubble baths solve all of the problems of the day.  That's why we rarely skip a bath.  They can go from chronos to kieros with a little capful of bubble bath.  :-)