The Miniature Mastermind

As much as I hate to brag, I must.  My baby girl is just pure genius.  It’s true.  Last night I had a revelation, and I can contain my pride no longer. 

To the untrained eye, this tiny little blonde diva appears to be a normal, everyday child, making messes for her mom to clean up.  Oh, but she is not.  Her brilliance is camouflaged in such a way that you couldn’t imagine the remarkable intelligence that goes on beneath the surface. 

Not just another pretty face, this one. 

This new discovery has made my life as a mother so much easier.  The weight has been lifted and I wear the veil of ignorance no more.  I have been freed.

What discovery revealed this to me?  Allow me to share. 

Around 7:30 pm last night we were watching tv and I was giving my sister a pedicure.  The girls were playing and I didn’t exactly notice that Leah had disappeared to the restroom for an extended length of time.  I say extended, meaning approximately 10 minutes I believe. 

I smelled a faint, fruity aroma coming from the bathroom, so I yell, “You in the bathroom, Leah?” 
I hear, “Yeee aaaa hhhh!."  Then I hear the bathroom door fling open and the very quick-paced steps (pitty pat, pitty pat, pitty pat) of this tiny child speeding from the bathroom, then popping herself promptly on the couch and under a blanket. 

I said, “What were you doing in there?”

She says, “I was dust usin’ the baffroom?” 

I say, “What is that smell?”

She says, “Nuffing, I was dust peeing in the potty!”  Weallly mom, I was D U S T pee-peeing!” 

Aware that this little creature is cunning and crafty, I know, not to trust her honesty.  This isn’t the first time I’ve been led to investigate her disappearances.  I traipse to the bathroom to explore.  Getting closer and closer to the door, the smell is extremely potent.  I could not recognize it immediately, but then I saw it. 

Someone had brought it upon herself to blend an aromatic concoction in our bathroom/make-shift science lab, while mom and dad were otherwise occupied.  After I tripped over the foot stool that had been dragged up to the sink (where the water was still slightly running I might add), I thoroughly scanned the room. 

There it sat - My $25 jar of facial firming cream from Avon, opened, mind you, with a toy sugar spoon sticking down in it.  Next to it sat a half empty can of hairspray, a miniature ceramic teapot, cracker crumbs and a cup of water. 

Upon further examination, I got the whole picture.  It appears that the cream, the spray, the crumbs and the water were all ingredients in her inventive brew.  I stood there just rolling my eyes and shaking my head.  I was L I V I D, (say it slow and very emphatic for best understanding).
 
I started to scream, “Nunu Kaye, Oh My God, what in the ….”, and then it hit me.  As I was cleaning the nasty mess up, I realized I was looking at this completely wrong.  A simple change in mindset completely relieved me of my anger. 

My baby wasn’t a tiny terror out to destroy the peacefulness of the evening by making a mess of our humble home and frustrating her mother beyond imagination.  No…THAT couldn’t be it.  Not from my angelic offspring.  Therefore the only conceivable answer was this:  She is a miniature genius who just needed time alone to perfect her expertise in the chemical sciences. 

Of course!  That was the only conclusion that made sense. 

It was in that beautiful moment that I realized the gift of the situation.  It wasn’t a disgusting mess she was creating in the lab.  No!  Not at all.  How could I even suggest such a thing of my precious wee one!  The logical answer was staring me right in the face.  I felt so guilty.  So ashamed! 

Obviously she has seen her daddy diligently working on the house (as we are living in, and remodeling my parents’ home at the same time).  He has put in all new sheetrock and uses a lot of mud.  This baby was making sheetrock mud!  I mean, with the hairspray and the Avon firming cream…what other conclusion could I have come to?
 
Brilliant I tell you!!  And to think I wanted to yell at her!  She must have realized all on her own, just how much trouble it is for mom and dad to go purchase the stuff to spread on the walls, and was clearly just thinking of the family! 

Why just the other day she had disappeared to the bathroom for a length of time.  Later that evening I found a blend of blue hand lotion, yellow baby shampoo, some M&Ms, some wildflowers (or weeds...I’m not sure which) and the remaining sips of my Diet Dr. Pepper, all mixed up in a bath-toy bowl thing. 

I did yell that night.  In my ignorance, I didn’t realize that she was developing something that was probably equal in usefulness and originality as her homemade sheetrock mud. 

To a plain ol’ mom such as myself, it was just something else I had to clean up.  Had I known...ya know...Had I Known.
 
I poured it all out that night and ruined her potion!  How could I have done that when I couldn’t possibly conceive the end result of the innovative creation she began.  I am sure only now it was something only a mastermind like Nunu could have understood and produced.

Yep, my baby is a genius.  Accepting it has made me a calmer person.  Oh, I’ll still monitor her inventions, as we simple mothers of accomplished scientists feel we need to do. 

But for today, I will just find comfort in knowing I discovered the real truth, and maybe I’ll be a bit more understanding when my whiz kid is at work…in the lab…with a foot stool.