Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say.

But this beholder right here had not been seeing much beauty. Lately I felt as though my little princess was turning into a little monster, being a menace to innocent bystanders (mainly me) as she carried on with her daily business of exploring and challenging boundaries. People talk about the Terrible Twos and the Terrorist Threes, but this stage I like to  call the Ominous Ones. It’s like a big bad sign of things to come. And, then the boys keep nagging at each other about the most insignificant things, like who stole who’s chair at the table and how one of them unjustly took a toy his brother was just playing with (two days ago!). Can’t we all just get along? Please?

Don’t get me wrong, of course I love them. I adore them. They are blessings, arrows in my quiver. It’s just that it would be nice if we could go a day or two without refereeing disputes about who gets to play with which Lego piece, or chasing and redirecting a 20-month old training for Extreme Toddler Sports. By 10:30 a.m., I’m exhausted, wondering how much longer till nap time.

I came to the conclusion that I needed to have a “mindset” change and hit the “reset” button before I lost my mind. But, how could I learn to appreciate – and even enjoy – our days through their point of view? Then I wondered, what would happen if I strapped the GoPro camera on them for a couple of days? I’m so glad I did it. Let’s just say it was nothing short of amazing. I feel like I gained so much insight about my family and home after watching the hours of video we recorded. Check out some highlights here:

Using the GoPro was the next best thing to being a “fly on the wall” around my kids. This is what I learned:

1. My room is a disaster! I know that’s not what I should be gleaning from this little experiment, but goodness! On the plus side, I did end up cleaning it up, and now it’s more like an organized mess. If you watch carefully, you’ll see me *trying* to organize and de-clutter.

2. I need to smile a whole lot more. I didn’t realize how serious I look all the time. And it doesn’t help that I’m constantly taking things away from the baby, telling her not to do something or correcting the boys about their behavior. No wonder Daddy’s the favorite! As a result, I decided to smile like a beauty pageant contestant at home. This has been met with some confusion from my boys, but I am determined to be more pleasant.

3. My kids are cool. Seeing how they play together or on their own showed me that playing truly is learning at their age. Plus, I was reminded that while they do have their arguments, they do have fun together.

4. My house is busy. Most of the footage was taken while I was doing something else. Seeing all that goes on in my house while I’m busy myself was a reminder that there is a lot going on at all times. There is never a dull moment and chaos is the new normal. To expect anything else is just silly.

5. I finally know why my house is always a mess. There are tiny creatures undoing all my work! It was crazy to see these children of mine just pick up a piece of paper, a toy (or a coconut), take five steps, drop it right there on the floor and keep going on their merry way.

6. A Jack Johnson soundtrack and a little video editing can work wonders for my perspective!

Week 2 of the #ETHANproject is now done, but the week’s challenge to Enjoy the View definitely was eye opening for me. If you’re not already following the #ETHANproject, you still have another eight weeks of challenges to help you Enjoy The Here And Now. Join us by visiting the Grounded and Surrounded blog.

And make sure you get started on the Week 3 Challenge: Enjoy the Flavor. Yum!