Educational Clutter....

If you've ever been fortunate enough to play in the damp sand right at the ocean's edge, then perhaps you know what its like to try to dig a hole there. It's a race against time and nature, right? How deep can you get the hole before the water rushes back over it and filling your "masterpiece" with its foam and the sand it pushes along with its unmatchable force? My reality, lately, is a constant race against how much progress I can make before the tide rushes in and knocks the hell out of everything I've managed to accomplish. Today, for example was a great example of this, only the force of nature I had to deal with today was not the beautiful ocean, but rather my beautiful daughters and their seemingly incessant need to destroy all that is good in my house. It is important to note that I am no Martha Stewart. First, this is because I've never served any kind of prison time for illegal stock deals--as if I had the money to do that. But, more importantly, I am not a domestic goddess in any sense. My current decorating style can be described as "kiddie kaleidoscope". There are more toys in my living room and dining room than are in my girls' room. In an effort to make the home "child friendly", I have managed to create a monster: their stuff has taken over my home. My shelves are filled with their toys (when it's actually picked up). Of course, I could be grateful for that, since their stuff has let me avoid the trap of buying all kinds of knick knacks to fill my home with. Who needs LLadro when I have Legos, right? Today, though, I decided that it was time to haul out the girls' room, so that I could maybe put some of the Barbie and Dora stuff out of my sight. But, when I went up there, I realized that I had piles stuffed away from when I tried to accomplish this and managed to get interrupted before. I made some headway, though; I actually cleaned out clothes that haven't fit either of the girls in ages, and toys that haven't seen the light of day in about as long. Now, instead of having stuff spread all over the place, I have it separated into three piles--clothes, toys and books. There's a path to their beds and the rest will be finished tomorrow. A decent day's work. However, when I came downstairs, what do I find in my living room--which I just cleaned out the day before yesterday? Hurricanes Cailyn and Erin had hit again; there was no warning (so much for the power of The Weather Channel.) Fortunately, we've somehow managed to get them to pick up most of it (which is comprised mostly of rubber bands; where they got them, I don't know. All I know is that they're counting them as their putting them away, one at a time. Cleaning and Counting...who would have thought that clutter could be educational? So, I may never have Martha's talent at decorating cakes, folding napkins or having the perfect house. But, I do have kids that can count to 100... That counts for something, doesn't it? :)