Two lessons learned the hard way

Here in Georgia, the winters are pretty mild. Still, after playing outside in temperatures around the high 40's, I had a brilliant idea. Partly to get the kids in without too much whining, and partly to create one of those picture-perfect memories, I told the kids to come inside and have hot chocolate. Yay! We all got inside without me having to carry them both in. Success!

I put milk on the stove top to warm, and first made BooBoo's drink while it was only slightly warm. And this is when I learned my first lesson. Who knew that warm chocolate milk in a sippy cup would explode out of the spout once a little pressure is added? Poor thing took one drink and was shot in the face with warm liquid. It covered him and the cabinet behind him. Of course it scared him to death, so he started wailing. I quickly got him settled and cleaned up a bit, then I hurried to get the milk off the heat to make my 4 year old's drink. I realized it was too hot, and BooBoo was still crying, so I sat it in front of him in a mug with a loose top on it and told him not to touch it yet. "It's too hot. Let it sit there a minute." I turned around to finish dealing with the sobbing 2 year old, when I hear another scream. Yes, lesson number two. Don't expect a four year old to wait to try his hot chocolate. I turned just in time to see him throw his mug into the air and have it land in his lap. Thank god for the little top on that mug!

So, instead of a Norman Rockwell image, I have two children drenched in chocolate milk and wailing. What I'm proud of is that I was able to find the humor in it, even if I was the only one. I was laughing uncontrollably while I wiped down the kids, their clothes, the cabinets, the floor and their chairs. The happy ending is that we all got settled down and had a nice cup of warm chocolate. And CooCoo, 4, said, "Mom, I want to do this everyday!"

Ahhh, that's what I was going for.