Sweet Parenting Skills, Mommy!

Due to weather, I've basically had a 10-day weekend (aside from a 45 minute workday on Monday, right before the ice storm hit), so you'd think I'd be fresh, organized, and on the ball, right? WRONG! We spent 2 days without electricity, 3 days at Grandma and Grandpa's, and today trying to clean up from the craziness, including draining and flushing our water heater to replace an element. Ryan had to go hunt for a dog (I always thought the dogs were supposed to do the hunting for him, but I digress...) and I REALLY needed a shower (and someone had to test the water heater), so I employed my Mommy-of-the-Year strategy and plopped Reed in front of The Land Before Time, Calvin in a bouncy seat, and my stanky self in the shower. A few minutes later, Reed runs down the stairs saying, "I'm OK! I'm OK, Mommy!" He wasn't too OK, though, because he wouldn't go back upstairs until I went with him. I heard Sarah the Triceratops scream in the background and knew Reed was coming down for comfort. Still not wanting to be a Mommy at the moment, I balanced Reed and Calvin on my knees facing the movie while I checked e-mail. It worked well until Sharp Tooth reappeared on the screen or Calvin stuck his drool-y hand in Reed's face ("Stop, Baby Calvin! Don't do THAT!" Did I mention Reed's become a bit of a boss lately?) We made it to bedtime though, and I didn't think another thing about the movie until Reed hollered upstairs at me, "Mommy! Sharp Tooth down! Mommy! Sharp Tooth dead!" I went downstairs and he proceeded to explain, "...swimming in the water...wait until the water's dark...Sharp Tooth fall in the water." Note to self: no more scary movies as babysitters in the evening!