Calling for back-up

Why are all children hard wired to go beserk while their parent is on the phone? Today explains why my phone conversations these days are so disjointed. My one goal for today was to get the floors mopped. I know better than to try to set my goals too high each day! All was going well. I cleared the furniture out, swept (several times since my helpers love to stomp on dust bunnies), and started to mop. While mopping I started to think about my friend Jessica who is in the midst of selling their home. I was marveling at how she keeps it clean each day for showings while also living their two kiddos under three. So I decide to call her. My kids were happily occupied both doing their own thing in the family room. As soon as I got on the phone their radars went off and they attack. Camille runs into the kitchen wiping out on the wet floor. While I was picking her up, Noah decides to mop the carpet in the family room. All the while I am still trying to have a conversation with Jess. Camille refuses to be put down and starts hitting me to get her hands on the phone. Noah starts drumming and yodeling. I finally get a small break when I find the other phone and give that to Camille. And after getting off the phone I discover why Noah suddenly got quiet...yes, those are his feet on the kitchen table. When I got off the phone to explore the reason for the eery quiet, Noah proudly showed me his dance moves on his "stage". The good news is I finally did get some of those crusty spots off of the floor and the kitchen table is now extra clean since the early afternoon "performance".

And here is a really random phone experience. A telemarketer called recently to update my college alumni directory (and to sell one to me at the low cost of $99!). As I gave him my full name. He commented on my married name by saying "wow, that's my family name". After a little exchange of information and a brief conversation with Adam, it turns out that he is Adam's second cousin! How often does that happen? I still didn't buy the $99 directory.