Messy Life

As I was whirling around trying (futilely) to clean the kitchen tonight after putting Andrew to bed, I came to some realizations about our life right now, and I'm pretty happy with these:

1. There is dog and cat hair in the corners of every room, and on the stairs. But my son loves dogs and cats -- they elicit huge grins from him.

2. There is clean laundry from weeks ago, not yet put away, all over my bedroom. But Andrew and I always go to work/daycare in clean clothes. I take pride in getting the food stains out of his bibs, in fact. Who was the genius who invented Oxy Clean?

3. Sometimes all the groceries don't make it into the actual cupboards, so they're left sitting out on the counters. But Andrew eats all organic food, and he hasn't yet met a food that he doesn't like, and he's well-nourished and (knock wood) healthy.

4. Confession: I have 30-odd library books/movies/audiobooks checked out, and I don't know where they all are. The living room, various spots in the bedroom (including in the bed), next to the rocking chair in the nursery, and in canvas bags in my car. But I read to my son every day -- sometimes after nursing him first thing in the morning, and sometimes when we get home from work/daycare, and sometimes right before bed. And sometimes all three.

5. Usually, the hand-washed dishes in the strainer don't make it to the cupboard either. But they are clean, and everything gets run through the dishwasher at least weekly for sanitizing.

Honestly, I'd rather spend my "alone" time in the evening reading a good book, or researching interesting homemade baby food recipes, or clipping coupons, or blogging. Cleaning isn't high on my list. What is there to be learned from drudgery?

The other week I made cupcakes for Andrew's new head teacher at daycare, because I'd heard her birthday was coming up, and she's a sweet, sweet lady. It was a busy weeknight as it was, but she is worth the time and effort.

I'd also rather spend time watering, feeding, and tending to my vegetables and flowers than worrying about yard work. It's been so satisfying, even just over the past four weeks or so, to see my veggies grow from little tiny seeds to climbing vines and strong stalks that may actually provide food for us this summer.

I'd rather throw the ball for the dogs 100 times than vacuum up the dog hair, religiously, every day. How boring. When my dog's life is over, will I look back fondly at the time I spent vacuuming, or the times my fuzzy best friend ran, hell-bent, across the yard trying to catch the ball on the first hop?

I don't have nice furniture, my house needs mega repairs and updating, my car has many barely-contained fast-food wrappers in its travel trash bag, and my kitchen floor has splats and splotches on it from dogs, cats, and baby (and me, to be honest). There is dust and there are papers and baby toys and literally hundreds of books and magazines, all over my house. My beloved Cuisinart and KitchenAid mixer live out on the counter, because they are like third and fourth arms to me. Andy-Roo's artwork from daycare is taped to the fridge, as are photos, business cards for landscapers (haha), and Roo's daily contact sheets from daycare. I haven't filed old paperwork since before he was born; it's all being held in an old Pampers Swaddlers box in the hallway, to be honest. This is, well, just the detritus of our busy, active life.

It is a messy life, but oh, is it a full one. And I wouldn't have it any other way.