A clean house ... someday

As I was picking yet another lonely sock off the bathroom floor and chucking into the laundry basket, the usual thought crossed my mind -- why do my girls always leave clothes lying around?

I hung up yet another wet towel that someone ran off and left molding in a heap on the bathroom floor, and retrieved seven pony tail holders off the counter and put them in their drawer. I thought to myself, I wonder when the day will come when I won't have to pick up after everyone?

And then it hit me, there will be a day when I won't be picking up after everyone. The days of being a mom are already flying by, and those quieter, and cleaner days will be here before I know it. These thoughts continued as I roamed through my house. Those fingerprints on the glass screen door are really only temporary, and one day I won't have to look outside through smudges and smears.

Those unmade beds in their rooms will eventually stay made, begging for a guest to come mess them up. The living room, that daily overflows with coats, shoes and backpacks, will someday remain uncluttered and tidy. The carpet will be free from little toys and gum wrappers, and the lines from vacuuming will remain for weeks.

I glance over to my fridge, which is actually white, but you'd barely know it as it is fully plastered with kids' artwork and activity schedules. Someday my fridge will look brand new. No school lunch menus, no basketball team pictures, and no A+ tests will be hanging under magnets.

The yearly calendar that is always on the fridge door will become smaller in size and only list the occasional birthday or doctor appointment, not filled with a hundred different goings-on. Inside the fridge, that's always stuffed with at least three gallons of milk, little juice boxes, and tubes of fun flavored yogurts, will someday have emptier shelves, one half gallon of milk (probably soy), and some prune juice.

My laundry room baskets, that seem to overflow even after I've done 12 loads all day, will someday sit empty and the detergent will take months to use up. The garage that is packed to the gills with bikes and scooters and toys will eventually be emptied and the garden equipment will hang lonely on the walls. The giant SUV that can transport 13 kids and all their bags all across the State will later be reduced to four person sedan that rarely goes any further than the grocery store. Our yard that I complain is always messy with the girls' junk, will someday be green and fresh, not matted down from a plastic swimming pool or soaked in one spot because someone left the hose on.

So, as I stand in the middle of my house, scanning the rooms, I take note of ALL the remnants of my little girls who are growing up so fast. I sadly remind myself that even though I love to sarcastically whine about all the things my girls do to destroy our house and make me crazy, and although I freakishly love a neat and tidy house, one day, in the not so far future, this house will be free from their clutter. It will stay clean and remain quiet, and I'll so desperately wish their messes were back.

So today, although I will ask them to pick up their things, I will give thanks that there is stuff to pick up and I will be grateful for my messy and cluttered home.