Love Potion #9?

The Kraken is really into science experiments, which I must admit is a welcome change from races and obstacle courses. (There is a well-worn path through my kitchen, up the stairs, around the bend and straight on ‘til morning from hundreds of timed sprints.) I like the idea that we are making a mess with a purpose even if my inner scientist tends to over complicate things and confuse the poor kid. He may not be able to read any words but by golly he’s gonna write out a chemical reaction. His kindergarten teacher is going to be so impressed and not creeped out in the least I am sure.

One of his new favorite activities is potion making. I know what you’re thinking: potion making sounds more like witchcraft and wizardry than science but since he hasn’t yet required a frog eye, bezoar or essence of dittany we will keep it lumped into the experiments category. All this really means is he fills the bathtub with a couple inches of ice cold water and then pours in the dregs of our almost gone shampoo and soap bottles with an occasional squirt of my expensive face moisturizer. Part of his experiment requires him to run from the master bathroom to the kitchen in order to test all my cooking utensils for maximum frothing potential. The good ones he saves for himself, the not so great ones he passes off to The Siren, who is sitting in the frigid water just happy to be participating.

I find the best seat in the house to witness the mayhem is my very warm and cozy bed. From this vantage point I can observe the bathtub to ensure my budding scientist and his assistant don’t drown, answer frantic questions as he sprints through on the way to and from the kitchen and pin all my favorite things on Pinterest. Multi-tasker of the Year and it’s only eight in the morning!

Somewhere amongst the running back and forth, the “may I use this funny looking ying (turkey baster) to stir my potion?,” the stripping down of clothing because The Kraken doesn’t enjoy damp pajamas and the 400 how to organize your house pins, I got a little lost in the calmness of my morning. It’s not anything close to a typical morning when my spawn are getting along and I can half concentrate on a mommy hobby. Then suddenly snapping me back to reality, The Kraken screamed on the top of his lungs, while running to the kitchen, “DO WE HAVE ANY BOATS?” Boats? No, no boats. “Anyying that floats? Please!”

We spent the next thirty minutes racing the empty shampoo bottles, our boats, around the bathtub.

He may not be able to read or write much of anything at this point. She may not want to do much of anything that doesn’t involve a Disney princess or fancy shoes. They may become best friends and forget the days they drove me crazy fighting for a living. They may not even remember the day we spent the better part of our morning getting our pajamas wet and soapy in the bathtub. I however will never forget it.