Cleaning House

Friday was cleaning house day. Bathrooms were scoured, kitchen floor mopped, house vacuumed along with the usual tidying up. I started at 8 and finished at 5. In that amount of time, I should have been able to clean a house quadruple the size of mine...or at least got to cleaning our room (which did not get done). By the end of the day I was feeling a little irritated that it had taken what felt like all day to clean my house and that my children were already undoing my work. I found myself thinking, "Why can't I ever get anything done?" Before I allowed my mind to go down that road of frustration, I started thinking about what else I had accomplished besides cleaning my house.

*Prepared and cleaned up breakfast and lunch and two snacks

*Nursed Mason four times and fed him solids once

*Babysat my nieces

*Kept five kids happy, entertained, and somewhat safe (sorry about Ellie's foot Kari!) for the morning

*Got Little Man ready and off to school

*Watched and cheered Kiwi on in her pretend "big race"

*Held Mason

*Entertained Mason (for the record it was not a good nap day either)

*Entertained Kiwi

*Had a "helper" mopping the floor (this actually accomplished keeping Kiwi entertained and cleaning the house, it just took quite a while)

*Sat down with Little Man after school and looked at his paper with him

*Broke up several fights

*Picked up several (felt like) hundred toys.

All too often I get down on myself for the things that I haven't accomplished, for the half finished projects that are always in the back of my mind, for the ideas that I have and don't follow through with, and fail to recognize the things that I do get done.

And although I know that life is all about different times and seasons, I sometimes need to remind myself of that. I will have a kitchen floor that stays clean for more then two minutes someday and a glass door without little finger smudges, but no little finger smudges means that the little bodies attached to those fingers are grown up and that is something I am definitely not ready for.

Times and seasons.

Kiwi getting ready to run her big race in what she deemed her racing clothes (she tries to wear that white skirt every day). I love that her black headband with a bow doubles as a sweatband.

Friday was also Little Man's 100th day of school. All week he would randomly bring up his 100th day of school. Thinking they were probably going to have some sort of 100 day party, I would ask him if they were doing something special, having a party, etc. He always answered no, but still seemed very excited about this day. Then one afternoon he said to me, "Mommy, it's just not fair. Not everybody has had a chance to do their all about me book and now they aren't going to get to do it."

When I questioned why they wouldn't be able to do it, he said, "Because it's the 100th day of school." And then a little lightbulb went off in my head.

"Buddy, do you think that the 100th day of school is the LAST day of school?"

He nodded and I couldn't help but laugh. "The 100th day of school isn't your last day, you've still got 80 more days left!"

And then he dramatically plopped his head down on his arms on the table.