The dilemma

So I'm puttering around today, cleaning the kids rooms, cleaning my room, the kitchen etc. The place looks - presentable, so I figure thats good enough and get out some paper and ribbon and scissors for Matthew to play with at a table, cutting and pasting. Baby was napping, so it was a good chance for us to have some one on one time.

Looked up at the clock - CRAP!! It's 2:40pm.
Duncan gets out of school at 3pm and they tend to let the kindergarten out 5 minutes early, so I always try to be there by 2:50 so that I am ready and waiting when he comes out the door.

So my dilemma: - do I make a mad dash attempt to get Matthew dressed (yes he has peeled all his clothes off as usual), and hustle him out to the van in this -9 degree wind chill weather, or do I take the easy route, and put on a Dora video and leave him at home, since Chris is working from home today.

Well of course I took the easy route. It's much faster to get him a cup of chocolate milk and throw on a movie, then to wrestle with him about putting on "linky socks" (He hates wrinkley socks), and pants and a shirt and coat. Quickly run down to the basement to tell Chris that I'm going to pick Duncan up, and keep an ear out for Matthew. He agrees.
I make it to the school with 2 minutes to spare. Minutes that feel really long when you are standing out in sub-zero weather waiting, but it's kind of nice for a change to talk to the other mum's without running after Matthew, or attending to a screaming Joey who hates the stroller.

I was gone for exactly 21 minutes total.

I come home to find naked boy running through the house - around his mouth it is stained pink, blue, green and orange.
He has in my absence, climbed up to the kitchen counter and opened a package of cookies, taken all the fruit cups out of the cupboard and lined them all up on the counter, and somehow, managed to get my rainbow coloured cake sprinkles down. I don't know where he found the sprinkles, but the evidence was around his mouth, as well as a giant pile of sprinkles smack dab in the middle of my family room.

Next time I have a dilemma, remind me that the easy route isn't necessarily the easy route in the long run.....

I'm off to go find my vacuum.....