Seeing the Good in the Mess

I did 5 loads of laundry today, folded them and put them away. 

After I started dinner I went to check on Little Princess and my Little Charge to find them both sitting in a huge pile of blankets, clothes and towels that they had pulled out of the linen closet. 

I said, “Look at this mess!”

Little Princess looked at me shocked that I would say such a thing, “It’s not a mess, it’s a NEST!”  She explained.

I came downstairs to write in my blog, and found what was this morning a clean and orderly room, was now a mess of toys, and couch cushion forts… which are now being used as battling rams.

I then went to the laundry room to throw in one more load before bed, and found what has to be ALL of Little Princess’s toys, and books in a heap at the bottom of the shoot… again.

My first instinct was to be mad at all these setbacks.  It seems that my house just isn’t meant to be a sparkling pillar of organization and cleanliness, despite my best efforts.

But in the middle of the chaos I hear laughter. 

I see brothers wrestling and playing together.  I see imaginations running wild, and memories that are being formed. 

 

Once the kids are in bed I’ll clean it up, again.  It will be more work… I’ll be extra tired.  But I’ll sleep well knowing that my children were laughing, and playing, and loving each other… because of the mess that I let them make.

Maybe I will have them help me clean it up though….