How Quickly the Mess Multiplies

I swear the house was clean just yesterday.  I swear it was.  Now I can't find my own foot, much less the floor.

How does it happen that quickly!?!

Well, let's break it down and figure it out.

Day 1 (morning) - Thing 1 and Thing 2 (Daniel and Samuel's new nicknames ... they are into everything these days and work together as a team) and baby Josiah take naps while Mommy and the older two do school.

Day 1 (early afternoon) - Mommy cleans the house.  Mommy feels good about getting the house so clean AND getting everyone's schoolwork done that she decides to take a little break and read a book.

Day 1 (afternoon) - While Mommy is reading, Thing 1 and Thing 2 go into the school room and dump out every single manipulative and art supply we own.

Day 1 (afternoon - five minutes later) - Mommy is reorganizing the school room, so Thing 1 and Thing 2 go into the living room and dump out the laundry that she just took out of the dryer so they can push each other across the floor in the basket.

Day 1 (afternoon - ten minutes after that) - Mommy finishes organizing the school room but leaves the clothes on the living room floor while she goes to nurse the baby, make lunch, and do some diaper changes.  Meanwhile, as Mommy nurses, Abby and Corbin are building with wooden blocks in the middle of the dining area.  Thing 2 wants to knock down their towers.  Corbin gets angry when his tower is knocked down and walks away, blocks still spread across the dining area.  Thing 1 goes back  into the schoolroom to dump out the math manipulatives so he can do "school".  Thing 2 gets bored with terrorizing the wooden block city and dumps out half of the bag of trash Mommy sat by the door but hadn't had a chance to take to the road.

Day 1 (lunch time) Mommy serves Things 1-4 their lunches and then sits down to nurse Thing 5.  Things 1-4 have various spills and accidents, leaving puddles of milk, broken pretzels, bread crumbs, and chunks of apple on the floor, chairs, and table (and themselves).

Day 1 (who knows how much time has passed - Mommy is running around like a mad woman) - Mommy has to get dinner started before Daddy comes home, as there are errands to run in the evening.  While Mommy is putting the stew on and holding the baby, Things 1-4 decide to build a train with EVERY SINGLE CHAIR, STOOL, BOX, BASKET, or MOVEABLE ITEM IN THE HOUSE.

Day 1 (Daddy comes home *insert Hallelujah chorus here*) - Daddy steps over the chaos of the house and comes to kiss Mommy, who pouts because Daddy never got to see how clean the house was.

Day 1 (evening) - Family loads up to go get camping supplies and winter clothes out of storage.  While Mommy puts Things 1-5 to bed, Daddy unloads everything from the car into the middle of the living room.  Mommy and Daddy are exhausted and fall in bed the second Things 1-5 are confirmed as sleeping soundly.

Day 2 (morning) - Mommy scratches her head and wonders if she just imagined cleaning the house the day before ... because looking around you will see: wooden blocks spread throughout the house, the schoolroom with little pieces spread everywhere, trash dumped out in the entry way, clean laundry spread all over the living room, boxes and tubs and camping bags stacked in the living room, and chairs, boxes, stools and random objects lined up throughout the house.  To the parent who has 1 or 2 or even 3 small children, this looks like a mess that would take several days without picking up to create.  Most parents would look at the mess and think Mommy of five was lazy.  But when you have four little ones AND a nursing newborn, the mess multiplies exponentially!                                                      

So, the moral of this story is multi-fold:

1. Have a TV.  Kids being creative and thinking for themselves is overrated.  Please don't be stupid like me and sacrifice your very sanity for what you believe in most.  There is something to this whole "vegetable in front of the TV" movement ...

2.  Do not clean your house when you have small children.  Wait.  Wait until they are 20 and have their own places to dirty.  THEN find your floors and rejoice in the fact that they will never get lost again.

3.  Do not read a book, take a breath, take a bathroom break, or look way for more than 20 second intervals.  To do so is asking for disaster.

and lastly,

4.  Ignore morals 1-3. :)  Yes if you have your kids at home it will be messy; if you have your kids play instead of watching TV it will be messy; if you clean, it will be messy shortly thereafter; and if you take a breath you are asking for a mess ... but it is all worth it!  Every single multiplying mess is worth it :)

With multiplying children come multiplying messes.

But also with multiplying children comes multiplying love.

And the love always outweighs the messes! :)