Worth It

As a mom of two young children, I am used to talking chances to get something done when I can, knowing that they don't come very often.  The kids have to be happily distracted in some form or fashion, so I can focus on a task without being interrupted every thirty seconds.  As you may guess, this hardly ever happens, and so nothing ever gets done.  Today I was planning on cleaning the kitchen, which looks like a bomb went off, while the kids played.  This is always easier said than done, because Christian needs me constantly.  It's not his fault, he just isn't to the point yet where he can do much on his own.  I can set him up with some toys or books, but he either grows tired of them and can't get new ones, they fall out of his reach and he can't get them, or he just falls over and can't get back up.  I wish with every ounce of my body that I could send him to play outside with his sister, but that is still only a dream.  Today, after repeating this same silly routine for about ten minutes, I gave up.

I ignored the dishes, and sat down with Christian on the floor to build a block tower.  It was awesome.  Then we went outside with Tes and a friend she had over.  We played on the slide, Christian and I sat in the tent and spied on the girls, and I helped Christian walk around barefoot in the dirt, which is his new favorite thing to do.  We laughed and laughed, picked dandelions, and laughed some more.  We had lunch outside, and the kids got coated in watermelon juice.  When it was time for Christian to take a nap he fell asleep almost before I left the room, and within five minutes, Tes was asleep on the couch.  I didn't want to wake her up, so I tiptoed out to the backyard, walked around for awhile, then sat down and read my book.  I can't remember the last time I read a book during the day, other than Olivia or Where the Wild Things Are.  So in the end, the kitchen still looked like a bomb went off, but I had a fantastic day with my kids, and that is beautifully worth it.