Neglect

Little kids have a funny way of letting one know that they need attention. I have been preoccupied with home selling and, I'll be honest, I've neglected Morgan a lot. It's only been one week since the home chaos began and I've been on the phone gobs. Half of the time, it's been legitimate: talking to the realtor, working scheduling for home inspections, etc. But the other half has definitely been girl chat.

Morgan notified me that she has had enough. First, she has started pooping in her pants again. True, she wasn't fully potty trained before all this home selling fun, but the difference in this pants mess is that she is PROUD of it. She gives me a Cheshire cat smile and points to her butt. "Look, Mommy!" She's a smart kiddo. She knows that I HAVE to pay attention to her then. Touche.

But then, not long after the poop incident, she took an apple half and smeared it vigorously on the back room mirror. I don't know what she has against the cleanliness of this mirror. She has abused it before, but this was more intentional. She stood by it proudly as she pointed out the juice smeared mirror. Oy vey.

This neglect should come as no surprise. For example, I only keep plants that thrive on neglect. Like fake plants. Or plants that have a camel-like need of water. I love the words "maintenance free" and "self cleaning". Rarely do I buy clothes that say "dry clean only". They might as well say "never wash this" because I dry clean my clothes about as often as I flip my bed mattress. Five years? (I can hear Martha Stewart gritting her teeth even now.)

My daughter actually confronted me about my phone use. She said that I "don't listen to Morgan" when I'm on the phone. Nu-duh. I'm on the phone. She gets a lot of "shushing" whenever I'm on the line. Can't she see MY side of things for once? Sometimes she hears me dialing a number on the push buttons (they beep with each number pushed) and runs into the room I'm in saying "Nooooooooooo".

*sigh* I guess I should limit my phone usage so I can pay more attention to Morgan. But if Ed McMahon calls, she's gonna be sorry!