the calvinator strikes again

Since Calvin's terrible twos have manifested differently than Cami's, I was convinced that he would bypass the destructive stage...okay, so he's destroyed some things already. But I'm talking about the bad stuff where the child tears apart the whole house in a day. I was convinced the last two years of unreasonable tantruming and crying at a deafening decibel level were tapering off, and the worst was behind me. Well this morning the kids broke into the freezer to have chocolate chips for breakfast and after that they played in the bathroom until another flushing spree was in session. I recovered one foam bath toy and wondered inconclusively whether there were more flushing casualties. I got them out the door and went onto my errands, finishing at Wal.mart, which notoriously always goes very badly. The kids were delightfully cooperative during the shopping, except for a few times that I discovered Calvin's pants pulled down to his knees (I wondered why people were staring). When we got to the car, I saw a neighbor waiting in a nearby car and briefly said hello. While I was attempting to buckle Calvin in, he began another tyrannical fit over nothing, and since he bawls so loudly, there's no reasoning. And since I'm painfully aware of his tendency to have a potty accident when he cries, I got him out of the carseat to avoid having to disassemble and wash it (all the while regretting saying hello to that neighbor that might have not recognized us). After his tantrum his pants needed to come off...and that's how he came to wear these stylish knickers home: We recouped a bit with lunch and some playtime, but it quickly went downhill when Calvin went to the bathroom and took off the remaining roll of toilet paper to drop it into the toilet along with the spring and metal tube. ..and a half hour later decorated himself and the carpet in Jude's room with greasy diaper rash cream, leaving about 10 different stains that will NOT come out. Needless to say, naptime followed QUICKLY.