Hot Chocolate and Sheet Forts

It's a cold rainy day in October and this tired Mama has been racking her brain with ideas to keep an active 2 year old happy. He was so good to me this morning, he let me sleep until 9:30 and barely trashed my room!

Zooey slept a bit later so Jed and I got up to eat breakfast. After we dined I got the idea to make a fort out of sheets for him to play inside. I draped some sheets over the couch and recliner and then tied parts to the railing, a kitchen chair and the vacuum power extension. I then used a broom as center support and we climbed inside. Jed approved because he said "Super cool, Mom!"

Later on, Jed helped me make some Mac and cheese. He loves to carry his little stool all over the counter to help mommy cook. (he also beings it to the changing table to help change Zooey) He's very good about staying his distance from the stove and tells me that he's "just watching". He did a great job stirring the cheese though!

After lunch I thought it would be nice to make him some hot chocolate since he is a choco-holic! The kid makes it known on a daily basis that he needs two pieces of chocolate. Yes, needs and yes, two. Cracks me up. So yeah, I was going to make Ovaltine but I remembered that I had a pack of drinking chocolate from Vosges, a fancy schmancy chocolatier that I used to deal with in my Whole Foods Market days. It called for 4 oz of milk but I made it 16 because we didn't need a liquid candy bar. Again Jed thought it was super cool when I gave him a warm mug of chocolate goodness. I got to use one of the Starbucks tumblers that I bought and held onto since I was 18 for my future children. It has a lid do I totally thought it was safe enough for Jed to walk around the house and enjoy. Leave it to Jed to prove me wrong! He was in his room and I was in the kitchen feeding Zooey when he runs in to tell me with pride that he made a mess! I entered his room to find that he played kitchen with the hot chocolate and parts from his little kitchen including a spatula and little pitcher. Yep, there was hot chocolate everywhere.

Being a mom of two has really helped me mellow out. Who would have thought, right? It has really helped me realize that between all the messes and chaos, it's not worth stressing about because all messes can be cleaned up. Eventually. I love my kids.

p.s. Dear Zooey, I wasn't ignoring you all day and in this post. You have just been a good little sleepy girl while I keep your big brother occupied! :) l