Chores

These are my tired and un-pedicured feet at the end of a chore filled Saturday. Some Saturdays are meant for play and some are just meant to finish up those things that you run out of time to do the rest of the week. My lawn was on the list of things to get done but I did not make that far today. With a family of five there seems to be a continual mess of shoes, toys, dishes, laundry and other miscellaneous things that seem to stray from the place they are meant to be.

I dust and two days later there is a new layer of dust. Where does all this dust come from? Doesn't this dust know I do not have the time to dust three times a week? Why do my children run their fingers across the dust and make it very noticeable that I need to dust?

My back porch is always covered in sidewalk chalk, scooters, yard equipment, and tools. I like the sidewalk chalk. I never wash it off I let mother nature take on that job, I think that is fair since I clean up her dust in my home. This message was written for grandma that will be visiting in a few days. We will see if stays long enough for grandma to see it.

"sigh"... the bathrooms. I clean and wipe down the counter tops and sure enough there will be toothpaste in the sink, hair, or whiskers. There will be water splattered up the mirror or a pool of water on the counter. Wet towels left on the floor and dirty clothes left after someone takes a shower. Written messages or smiley faces found on the mirror when steam from the shower consumes the bathroom...."sigh" ...the bathroom.

The dreaded spare room. Grandma is coming to visit so that means I have to clean all holiday decorations, spare clothes, craft items and boxes that seem to accumulate in this room. I tell myself everytime I clean this room when a visitor comes I will leave it this clean but as time goes on it becomes my room of laziness. I say laziness because the items that end up in this room have a place to go but I am to lazy to put them in their right spot so I throw it in this room instead. I will call it my temporary placement room from now on because I like that word better than lazy.

Laundry is a never ending process. When I have finally folded laundry and have it put away there is a hamper full of new laundry. The lost socks and clothes that I swear nobody wore but somehow they got washed. Some people find doing laundry enjoyable, I am not one of those people. I hate to iron and if it is a shirt that requires ironing I take it to the dry-cleaners. Really, who are these people who find laundry cathartic...sick...sick people!!!

I found time to make some jumbo M&M cookies today but this is not a chore to me. This is where I find peace. I love to cook and bake and try new recipes. I don't always have the time to cook like I used to but when I get a chance to be in the kitchen I am in my element. I cook things my children love and someday when they are grown and gone I will cook for just the two of us and I look forward to those days.

I am in this moment now. Dirty hand prints on the wall, backpacks and graded homework left on the kitchen table. Wet naked barbie dolls left in the tub and fruit snack wrappers left between the cushions of the couch. Band-aids placed on scraped knees and kisses on the forehead when it is time for bed. I have a list of chores that I perform everyday. I have chores that keep my home clean, or a meal on the table, or clean clothes to be worn to school the next day but ultimately all these things I do for my family and my family will never be a chore..............