Thursday, October 27, 2011

When you're not looking

I think my kids are junk collectors. Yesterday, my kids’ room was picked up and clean when they went to bed. Tonight, I walked into my boys’ room and the floor is covered with crafts and paper and logos. How does that happen in less than 24 hours? This mess, this disorder drives me nuts.  I’m the kinda person that needs everything in its place and everything to have a place. So my response to my kids tonight, (already past the bedtime hour) “time to clean!” Together we worked quickly and got that room picked up.
But secretly, what am I doing when my kids aren’t looking?  
          . . . tucking a couple of things away, helping those beloved items find their way to the recycling bin.
The item that found the recycling bin tonight was a lovely, beautiful thing that my Eli spent all of 5 minutes on. Tonight it was paper rolled into a tube and then taped to more paper, to make a lid. I should invest in tape.
Maybe I’m a bad mom for not keeping and cherishing all those treasures, artwork, maybe I am forever throwing away their creative stuff and they’ll hate me for it. But you need to realize this is an everyday occurrence in our house. Constant crafts. Constant creatively. I’m trying to keep a few of the extraordinary items. And many of the items, I force them to make decisions about. But tonight was about purging just a couple of things without anyone seeing.
My response tomorrow when my son asks “where is that craft, mom?” is “we’ll look for it” knowing all the while that it is in the recycling . . . and then he’ll go make another paper roll with lid and be satisfied.

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About Me

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I have a wonderful husband that I have been married to for 12 years. We have 3 handsome boys: Boden (8), Elijah Vaughn (6) and Oakland (9 mo.). The kiddos keep us busy, they remind us to stop and enjoy the little things of life. My parenting style is creative, flexible, down-to-earth, and grounded (in common sense and faith): I'm always trying new approaches. I challenge and encourage my kids. We have lots of open, honest conversations. My faith and church are very important to me. I am a Project Coordinator for a non-profit and work in their Advancement Department. That means, I'm the one who helps make sure our Development Officers have everything they need to visit a donor and ask for money. That also means, I put in extra hours during the Fall and Winter months as those are key times for talking to donors. I love that my plate is always overflowing with work at the office. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the details and being organized. Along with everything else, I enjoy exercising, especially running, and being outdoors.