Today felt like a page out of the book, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” — one thing led to another, and then another, until it became one big exhausting mess.

It began with a baby fork in the garbage disposal. I removed the splash guard to reach in and pull out the fork but it was so gross around the drain that there was no way I could stick my hand in there. So I grabbed the kids’ science bin out of the closet to use their tongs.

Of course, after seeing their science kit, the kids wanted to play with it and since I really had no reason not to let them, I said yes and gave them a few bowls of baking soda and colored vinegar to play with.

Seeing the colored vinegar reminded me I wanted to dye some rice for a sensory bin. I found the instructions and got to work. I had a beautiful container of pink rice, ready to dry until I tripped and dropped the bowl. The kids thought it was amazing.

I cleaned up the mess and then dyed 6 more batches of rice with various colors. It was really easy so if you have a need for colored rice, I totally recommend these instructions.

Have I mentioned Titus has bronchitis and an upper respiratory infection? We had to take a break and do his nebulizer.

By the time I made it back to the kitchen, it looked like this.

The kids disappeared by this point. I decided to embrace the quietness and listen to a podcast while I cleaned up instead of requesting the kids’ help. Between the podcast and a candle, it was actually quite nice … until Titus came in to throw a fit because I wouldn’t let him play in the fridge. I guess I didn’t react enough because he then decided to climb on the dirty table to cry.

Somehow all of this happened before 11 a.m. While the morning was a little nutty, it wasn’t all that bad. Thankfully, everyone (but Titus) was still in a good mood and we managed to salvage the rest of the day. Quite honestly, more often than not, this is just the way things go with kids. Things are rarely Pinterest-worthy around here but these are definitely times I want to remember because I know that someday I will miss these years.

Today reminded me that sometimes it is better to embrace the chaos and laugh. Often, I ruin the day with my poor reactions to the craziness. I am thankful we all had fun today and have some stories to tell Daddy when he gets home.