The Barbie leg in the cutlery drawer
by EMMA MULLINGS
Being a working, multitasking mum of two toddlers is quite an adventure. Lucky for me, I love adventure.
The older I get, the more aware I have become of “treasuring the moments”. Before you know it – a season has passed, never again to be revisited.
I had one of these “treasuring the moments” experiences recently, which evolved around a brown Barbie leg in my cutlery drawer.
I have two toddlers, my daughter is 2 and my son is 1. These two are literal rays of sunshine who walk talk and… well… poop.
Each time I went to get a knife or fork amidst the chaos of meal time, normally with both toddlers at my feet being very vocal about wanting food, milk, hugs whatever! There was always this Barbie leg in drawer with the knives. Each time I would take it out and throw it in with their toys, (it’s true, I didn’t even try to find the poor legless Barbie to reattach it to). Yet, each time I would go to the drawer, again in the midst of chaos, the Barbie leg was back.
After the fourth time I was starting to think – is my husband doing this as a joke? Is there a hidden camera?
As I stared down at the Barbie leg, the analysing thoughts running wild (I am officially capable of thinking a million different thoughts per second, my husband will testify), I was suddenly slapped with the realisation “one day you will WISH for a Barbie leg in your cutlery drawer”.
Flash forward: I pictured my daughter as a teen going out and me wanting to do nothing more than curl up with her and watch DVDs and play hairdressers. I pictured her telling me she was moving out and me crying each night while cuddling her stuffed toys on her old bed (why she would have stuffed toys as a young adult I have no idea). Then her telling me she was getting married.
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I can’t share her, I just can’t.
All a little dramatic. But it made me realise how special these early years are.
So I’ve decided to leave the Barbie leg in the drawer. So that each time I open the drawer I will take a breath, appreciate the moment, hug my kids, and treasure this season with them… and resist the urge to tell my daughter she should stay and live with me until she is an old lady.
Emma Mullings is a mum of two toddlers and works as a TV Presenter and Producer. You can find her on Twitter here.
Have you ever had a ‘Barbie leg in the cutlery drawer moment’? What funny things have your kids done that you’ll always remember? What funny things did you or your siblings do when you were kids?
Comments
33 Comments so far
Fantastic article & well done for realizing it when your kids are so young. It took me a lot longer, but at least I got there (while they are still at home & will be for 6 + years). Make the most of your time
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And my handbag is a new story altogether..!
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Finding random toy parts in odd places, and not knowing how or when they get there, they just do….ha ha it is one of the best things about having kids! I have found dummies in my underwear drawer, hair clips in outdoor plants, tongs in the bath…..
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When my little one was born, people told me that the “mummy mantra” for the tough times was “this too shall pass”….
I now realise that this also relates to the good and fun times, so I try to embrace it all and remember, in times of frustration, that one day she will be all grown up and I wont be able to grab her as she walks past and kiss her all over
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I just realised this the other day. My baby is almost 8, and we still sometimes use her Bunnikins bowl…
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I had a moment about a year ago, at my sister-in-law’s places. I used to get annoyed and angry even when my kids would leave hand print marks on the bench top from touching it constantly or trying to climb it, and I would have to wipe it. Then at her place I saw this picture with her daughters hand prints and underneath something was written, it went something like that: Now I am little and make you upset(or something) by leaving marks on the bench, but in a few years time I won’t be doing that anymore and you will miss my little hands, so here is a memory of them. It brought tears up, and since then I am not as fuss with the finger marks on the bench top or even windows.
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That just made me well up. I have a 2 year old son and am 41 weeks pregnant and am so worried about this birth. But that statement just made me remember I will have so much to be thankful for when it’s all over and done with.
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Beautiful story, thank you for sharing. My son is almost two & a half. His bedtime routine involves reading a book, turning the light off and having me, mum, lie with him in his bed until he’s fast asleep. Sometimes it’s a long process, but everytime I think we should leave him to it, I remember a) my husband & I both work full time, he deserves our undivided attention at this moment, & b) before I know it, he’ll be grown up & I’ll have to beg for a hug, so I’m going to enjoy the moment. Soak up that precious time.
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Lovely article. Just got into bed with 2 cars, a barbie handbag and a tape measure after moving a brick from beside the bed…..where did they get that brick from??!! Thanks for reminding me to live in the moment..
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I have got 2 little boys 3y8m and 19 m old. so all cars,robots dinosuars place.i found little cars in my saucepans,dinosaurs in my rice pot ,ball in my lingerie draws and the list go on and on.one most hilarious thing my elder one told when he found my pads in bathroom draws “mammas nappy” ,I used to keep the bathroom door open when he was little ,probably he saw me using the thing,there you go !
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Oh I love this. I got all emotional recently about Fin growing up too quickly and my husband had to remind me that he was only 14 weeks old!
But it does seem to slip through your fingers. Sob!
I think one way to help stay in the moment is to have family rituals … I think they kind of bring you back to the moment.
As for funny stories … my husband shaved off his beard recently and Ava (who is 3 yo) told him that she would like to go buy some ‘beard seeds” so he could grow his beard back. That’s the stuff I need to write down so we don’t forget it!
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You know it took me ages to find the barbie leg! That drawer just looks so much like mine does. Very colourful!
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Hi Zoe, Glad to hear someone else’s drawer looks like that! ha ha Em
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We have a simlar story…. on ours revolves around MAX STEEL (action man version of Barbie)… my lil fella (Max – yep that’s right) is now 18 and a long, long time ago, Max Steel used to move all around our house…. he’d end up on a chair, under the lounge, in the washing basket – you get the drift. Who knows how he got to some of the places he got to but he WAS and still is, Max Steel – a man of mystery and action!!! Well one day he was found up on the curtain rod in our lounge room. My real Max couldn’t believe his eyes! It was a miracle! How did he get up so high!!! You can imagine…He stayed up on the curtain rod for quite a while…. and now, Max Steel has retired to our linen cupboard, sitting on a shelf with his legs swinging over the edge, waiting for action. Oh I remember when….how quickly the time goes…. treasure each ‘Barbie leg’ moment – cause my Max Steel moment is s moment I will remember forever….. little things….
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My husband keeps a tiny baby hair bow in his trouser pocket. It reminds him of our girls when he is away
but they won’t be wearing bows forever, he might have to change it to “stray iPod earbuds” soon…
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I am making orange cakes (like your lemon ones Mum – but orange) for Master 9 on Wednesday last week. He is my baby. Ms 11 in 3 weeks is eagerly contemplating her birthday cake choices. Both are planning parties, and I am feeling worn out already with big workload and oh no sleepovers, really???
But my oldest three are 25, nearly 20, and 17.5, and two have *sob* moved out. When I am raising my eyes at yet another childhood mayhem or mess, I remember when their sisters did the same thing – and with a shock, that remembered yesterday is now long gone.
I joke about looking forward to a potential sewing room when they all grow up and move on – but who am I fooling? I have been a mother since I was 19. How can one stop?
Thanks for the Barbie leg:)
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You could be my twin. I had my (nearly 25 year old at 19). She has left and her brother who is nearly 22 is at the in out stage. At the times I wish for a bit of freedom (my 2 youngest are nearly 12 and nearly 9), I remember how quickly the older 2 grew.
I remember walking my older 2 to the park, watching them on the swings out the back yard, catching them with the hose and playing somersaults in the lounge room with them. I recently had to buy a bra for the nearly 12 year old and realised that even my babies are growing up….
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Hi Twin:)
I think it has given us perspective. I know having children in three distinct decades (I call it the FM radio, all the hits of the 80s, 90s and 00s) has been so valuable. So much has changed from raising the first to the last.
Je ne regret rien, as Piaf would say. But if I could, I would not have sweated the small stuff. Everyone is now walking, talking, toilet trained, and sleeping through the night (though with the teens, awake through night again!). Time just flies by you in a blur of milestones passed, through to school days, when it spins even faster.
No, I am in no hurry for grand babies, as some friends have suggested. I am now getting finally to work in my dream job, and getting to know who I am now. That is odd when I have been mum all my adult life, and am now starting to be more than mum…it is scary but kind of wonderful. But I will ALWAYS be their mum:)
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I’m not good at remembering all the gorgeous thigs my kdis do, so I write them a letter every year around their birthday telling them what they’ve been like and what they’ve done for the year.
It’s an opportunity for me to reminisce and also for them to giggle at and get some insight from when they’re older … hopefully they like it
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That’s beautiful, Loop! I’m sure your kids will treasure those letters
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I do the same thing, birthday and christmas cards are written, and a letter about what has happened in the last 6 months put in and then they are sealed and dated and put in a box. So much happens in little lives it is easy to forget what their fav song was when they were 3!
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I do that too- should be fun reading them one day
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Ah, I’m not the only one! Even if the kids aren’t enthralled with them, I’ll certainly treasure them. So many precious moments that would be lost in my sieve of a brain otherwise
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That’s such s great idea- how special! Bet they will love reading over them in the future.
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What a beautiful idea!
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I hate to nitpick, but your children aren’t “literal” rays of sunshine. Ugh.
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I don’t think you really hate to nitpick I think if you were honest you quite like it.
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sigh…. there’s always one
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I was about to go into a meeting at work one day and looked into my handbag and there was the book ‘Hairy McLary from Donaldson’s Dairy’. Put me in a good frame of mind before the stupid meeting and I kept it in my handbag for sometime after.
Nice article.
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You gotta love Hairy McLary!
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Scarface Claw the toughest Tom in town!
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I’m the same whenever I find a stray ‘Thomas’ train in my handbag!
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My 3yr old son loves Hairy McLary! Whenever I bake muffins he calls them “Muffin McLay” as in, “Mummy can I please have a Muffin McLay”. It is so cute.
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