On Thursday we were going to head to the park in the morning before getting into our daily routine. However, my sweet friend had to unexpectedly go to the doctor and we ended up watching her children and then hitting the park later on in the afternoon. It was pretty warm, so the water bottles ran dry in just over an hour. This is my little indicator its time to head home. ;) As we walked into the house, I was suddenly very keenly aware of all that was wrong in the world...okay, slight exaggeration...just all that was wrong within the walls of my own home. The kitchen floor caught my eye first. I thought I'd mopped recently, but couldn't quite recall...if I had, it didn't show. As I stepped over piles of laundry to put our park bag away, I tripped. While picking myself up, I noticed all the toys strewn about. Something had to be done. I believe I mentioned in another post about re-defining "clean" this summer with everyone home...and settling for "tidy". Well, at this moment I realized clean was nowhere to be found, and we passed tidy several days ago. So, I did what any good, sane mother would do...I sent all the kids to their rooms to read, clean, sleep, or play; and I set to work. You probably thought I was going to say I enlisted the services of my 5 little helpers because many hands make light work, and we've got a lot of hands around here. However, this clean job was serious, it needed my full attention. So, I explained to the boys they could come out when I was finished. They were very good about it, surprisingly. It took me longer than I expected. I cleaned, mopped, rotated laundry, washed dishes, scrubbed toilets & sinks, vacuumed, dusted, and made dinner for about 4 hrs. Then I let them out to eat. I finished cleaning and folding laundry after dinner while they played outside. Mean of me? Perhaps. Necessary for my sanity? Certainly! I am hoping that this time allowed them to think a bit about helping more so this doesn't have to become a regular thing. Either way, I got all my house in order, and it felt great. Usually I live by the words of a poem my mom gave me years ago, entitled "Excuse this house" For your reading pleasure, I'll share it:
Excuse This House
Some houses try to hide the fact
That children shelter there.
Ours boasts of it quite openly,
The signs are every where.
For smears are on the windows,
Little smudges on the doors;
I should apologize I guess
For toys strewn on the floor.
But I sat down with the children
And we played and laughed and read,
And if the doorbell doesn't shine,
Their eyes will shine instead.
For when at times I'm forced to
Choose the one job or the other,
I want to be a housewife...
But first I'll be a mother.
______________________
The last line sums up my hopes for this summer, but I also firmly believe that you can't do all those things like laughing and reading if you are in a mess. So, today was a compromise. I worried while I was cleaning that they would get upset or bored. Here is what I found when I checked on them:
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| G and the little boys' fort |
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| Gentry 's Fort |
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| E and his 3-D car puzzle |
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| JayDee and his 3-D cobra puzzle |
It would appear they survived being banished for a few hours. They read books, cleaned their room, and then got creative. The little guys made a fort and then lined up all their duck toys from one of our games in a row, and lined up all the cars on the street rug. They love to do "set up's" as they call them. The older boys finished their current books and were looking through my craft drawers downstairs and discovered these 3-D puzzles. I had picked them up an age ago, and intended to help them make them, but never found the time or mustered the necessary patience to do so. Way to go boys! Ya know, the messes I had to contain may have been as a direct result of these fellas, but I will never forget how blessed I am to have each of them. I love you my monkeys! :) Thanks for being thoughtful this Thursday by letting me clean up from all of our summer adventures thus far!
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