I just stopped and stared.
I had just spent the afternoon cleaning the house, running loads of laundry, folding, wiping, swiping, and mopping. Our house sparkled.
But now. I walked into the bathroom and stared. The entire contents of the garbage can were in the toilet. The toilet paper was unrolled and piled as high as my 17 month old. The sink was running and thisclose to overflowing over it’s clean (cause I did just clean this room not an hour ago!) edges.
It looked like a burglar ransacked our bathroom.
But burglars never ransack the bathroom. Right? You just never see it in the movies. I mean, picture it: A cute family comes home from a meal out and walk into their house. All looks fine and normal until someone heads to the bathroom. The teenager opens the door and with a look of alarm, yells, “MOMMM! We’ve been robbed! They stole our fluffy Good Towels and used all of the toilet paper!” That would never happen.
I could have called a motion movie maker and sold them on the idea of a burglarized bathroom, if they only saw it.
A sweet little cutie pie Toddler stood in the middle of it all and just looked Oh So adorable.
This is motherhood.
Sometimes, life can get so busy and hectic with the schedules, managing the house, working, fixing healthy dinners, being present, exercising, and not losing your cool from ransacking Toddlers. It can be easy to let one or more of these areas slide. How do you make it all work? I’m not real sure. I’m still working on managing all of the things that make a family tick…And when I seem to get the hang of it and get it all together? Something changes. Homework gets trickier, schedules change, and Toddlers learn to turn on showers.
That’s the thing about family life. It changes so fast!
So what did I do that day with the soggy towels and the happy Toddler? I picked up the mess and packed everyone up to go out to dinner. A night out without another meal to make (and clean up) made this mama smile.
We headed out for a dinner at Chick-Fil-A’s Family Mystery night. We showed up on a Friday night, had a healthy meal, and spent time together as family. My kids are still talking about it. The secret spy names, the mystery tasks, the flashlight. (My kids looooove flashlights.) It was such a memorable evening together with real, wholesome food, imagination, and creativity.
We walked in to see yellow tape and local police officers. There was a detective and missing lemons. But who stole the lemons? It was a mystery! The kids had to solve riddles and puzzles to find clues as we ate our dinner. With full bellies, we took a tour of the kitchen, only to find the Chick-Fil-A cow in the walk-in freezer with all of the stolen lemons!
It was such a relief to know that my kids were enjoying healthy and real foods. Did you know Chick-Fil-A uses fresh, hand breaded chicken every day? That there are only a dozen or so salads made at a time so that they are always fresh? That they have “food scientists” that plan out the menu items in a state of the art kitchen at Chick-Fil-A headquarters? That the lemonade is squeezed fresh and contains only lemons, sugar, and water? That there are many healthy options like chicken noodle soup, Greek yogurt parfait, and applesauce? This is simply amazing from a fast-food restaurant!
We were lucky to attend a few other events during our run as a Chick-Fil-A of Pittsburgh Mom Ambassador.
We went to a story time at a local Chick-Fil-A store and this mama enjoyed the one-on-one time with my Toddler (the very same that terrorizes bathrooms). With friendly store employees that truly care, this is a local activity that we will be attending again! You can see more local story times here.
And our third event was a memory-maker for certain. We visited the Pittsburgh Zoo for an after-hours event for animals, yummo Chick-Fil-A food, dancing, games, and prizes. My kids are still talking about the zoo event!
Thank you Chick-Fil-A for the memories and the knowledge that I can take my family out to eat wholesome meals in a family-friendly environment.
Look for Chick-Fil-A activities and events in your area for family fun (and breaks from dinner preparation).
We are back to they daily bathroom-wrecking, constant mess of day to day life with kids, and loving every bit of it. Even if life with kids means overflowing sinks and flooded toilets.
Full Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Chick-Fil-A and The Motherhood. All opinions are mine.
