The Messes

After my younger two go down for naps is the time that I pick up clutter around the house (if I do-- sometimes I have to go right down to the office and use every second of that precious time to work).

As I pick things up, I sometimes feel like I'm doing a poor job at teaching my children to pick up after themselves.  In the summer we had more organized and structured "clean up times" each day (before TV time or bed) but with busy school schedules this has fallen by the wayside a bit, and especially this week where the kids have been sick and home from school, but still well enough to play lots of games and make lots of messes.

I'll admit that there are some grumblings as I go through the house and find things like this:

So that's where the masking tape was when I needed to wrap that package this morning.

Can't you just hear it now... "Mamaaaaaa where are my soooocks??"

A great place for boots-- the couch, of course!

This snack was left to call the rodents by my 5-year-old.  I mean, really?

From all accounts, I was quite a slobby little child, and I still struggle with organizational matters as an adult, so I can understand where they get it.  The pot can't really call the kettle black, now can it?

But some of their messes make me smile, like this one:

Princesses left out, albeit all over the living room floor, but carefully organized into a "scene", with Belle and Rapunzel in their bed, holding sisterly hands as N and L often do in their own room and shared bed.

Sometimes messes aren't so bad.