I usually miss David so much more on the weekends. During the week, he is not home during the days anyway. But the weekends seem so strange without him around. We have a Saturday morning routine. The kids always wake me up when they wake up. We watch some cartoons and wake up good. Then we make David's coffee and sometimes we even make pancakes or waffles. Then the kids run in and wake up David by telling him "Coffee's Ready!" And usually David will have errands to run. He will take Spencer for "boys time" at the barber shop and Lowe's. And on some special Saturdays when I really need a break, he will take the 2 of them to Chuck E. Cheese for the afternoon! Plus, he usually cooks on the grill on the weekends, always a hit with me. So you can see why we miss him on the weekends most!!
Today, to pass the time I had some projects planned. We cleaned out some closets as we attempt to prepare to move. I would like to say that the children help me, but that would be sort of a stretch. Are they aware of me being in the closet? Yes. Are they interested in the items that I am moving around and going through? Yes. Are they involved in touching the same things I am touching? Yes. Do they share the same vision I have and the same goals for the project? Alas, no, they do not. For example, I was organizing the coat closet. I was folding hats, scarves, and gloves and putting them into Rubbermaid containers that were already labeled. I was making progress and getting it all taken care of. Then the phone rang, it was David. Of course, I stopped what I was doing to talk to him.
This is what the children did:
I STILL have not been able to get all of the winter hats and scarves away from them and put away in their proper container. . . At last check, there were several baby dolls and stuffed animals all snuggled up in the scarves.
I was refolding some towels in the linen closet. I do this often, but somehow they never seem to stay that way. I needed the stool to reach the tip top shelf to fold some beach towels. So I went to the kitchen to get it and was working on the top shelf. I needed to move the stool temporarily to reach and work on some of the lower shelves. I turned my back on the stool to face the closet.
This is what the children did:
I was cleaning up in the playroom. We have an official place for everything, but in our haste to clean up sometimes things get put back in the wrong place. If I cleaned it all myself every time, this would not happen. But a good mother encourages her children to learn how to clean up and put things away for themselves. But now, I am determined to have things as organized as possible before the packers arrive. I know how much easier it is to unpack if things are properly in their place when they are packed. So I was folding dress up clothes and matching plastic shoes and putting away magic wands and crowns. I was pleased with my progress and doing lots of good work. I went over to the play kitchen to get all the food, cookware, and dishes back into their proper containers.
This is what the children did:
Spencer has 2 closets in his bedroom. David put awesome closet maid shelves in all the closets after we moved in, but in Spencer's extra one, he put in lots of shelves for more storage. I was working on his second closet because I wanted to get out things that were no longer needed. Since David had his little surgery when we decided 2 kids are plenty, we have given away almost everything "babyish." I am not exaggerating when I say that we have made 15 trips to Goodwill just since David's surgery was deemed a success. Clothes, furniture, pillows, crib sets, mobiles, swings, toys, tubs, you name it! And with each area I clean up, I find more things to create more trips to Goodwill.
I have saved the really special things, though. Today, I found a precious German wooden toy that I bought for Jessa before she was born. They both played with it and loved it. I was sort of attached to it, so it was something I had decided to save. It was neatly taken apart and stored in the side of Spencer's extra closet. Jessa found it.
This is what the children did:
They even got out bags and were shopping in the things I was trying to throw/give away!
The babies teach me everyday not to sweat the small stuff. Would I have gotten more done if they were not so "helpful?" Absolutely. Would I have had any fun performing the boring, mundane task of cleaning out the closets? Absolutely not.
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