"Abby Joker"

If you are raising a two-year old, or you can recall the days of raising your two-year-olds, then you know what an "unbelievable" moment is like... those moments where you find yourself involuntarily saying out loud "UNBELIEVABLE!" while observing the chaos left behind by your 2-year-old's unimaginable creativity. We have those moments all the time around here. I can't even begin to recount them. I guess my mind is hard at work suppressing them. :-) Well, in trying to get out the door on time to work last week, I had many "unbelievables!" and I was a little more frazzled than normal: the HEB Buddy balloon that the sweet checker at the store had tied to a brand new economy-sized bottle of vinegar the night before that Abby has now pulled off the counter, causing it to split wide open onto the wood floor; numerous insistences that she needs to go "potty" on the "potty" (in which she did finally eek out enough evidence to be eligible for M&M's), followed by the diaper full of poop stunt just as we were finally heading out the door (the kind where you are tempted to tell her teachers at MDO that she just did it on the drive to school, but you just know they won't believe you since you only live 30 seconds away); Abby screaming that Daisy has her "blankie", while Daisy is in fact running across the driveway not only with the beloved blankie but also with the bow that took me 10 minutes to convince Abby to wear; on the way to the car, Abby & the dog having "issues", so I pick Abby up to stop the taunting, just enduring the screaming fit that she wants to walk!, place her onto the backseat of the car and say "get into your seat and buckle your buckle" (cuz I know I am in for another fit if I even think about buckling the buckle myself)... at that time, I notice the dog has no food or water, so I again repeat the urgent "get in your seat & buckle up" speech & walk away from the car to feed the dog.... as I cross the driveway back toward the car, I can see a little head bobbing up & down on the backseat & I groan...then holler "Abby, this is NOT funny!", only to turn around & see that it is, indeed, very funny... because she has buckled her babydoll into her carseat & looks so darned impressed with herself! For once, I physically can't stifle the laughter & I tell her "ok, it is funny, you are funny, you are mama's little joker"... So now Abby says all the time, "Abby joker!"