Stuff on the floor...

Typically I sit down to write blog posts during the sweet, sweet, peaceful moments of nap and quiet time. CJ is snuggled in bed with her blanket and stuffed dog while Kate dances 'gracefully' in her room upstairs for quiet time. (When you read 'gracefully' you should really read, like an 800 pound elephant in a tutu. We're still perfecting the art of not landing on our heels.) So during this precious time of the afternoon I sit down with good thoughts in my head and a dessert on the table next to me while I cheerfully adore pictures of my sweet girls on the computer. Children are great but they're even more wonderful when they're sleeping. 

Well today instead of my typical cookie/hot chocolate/brownie dessert I am enjoying a bowl of broccoli and sugar snap peas with ranch. Between errands and meetings, the girls and I just returned from a cookie tasting contest and I was a judge. Delicious cookies but I don't want to see any more sugar for a very long time. Although I'm certain my attitude will change by tonight.

Just before I sent the girls to their rooms I went around the house quietly piling toys into boxes and tubs. I do this about every three to four weeks when claustrophobia begins to set in. I gather all the 'stuff' and put it away in a room no one enters but me. Doing this clears my head and my living room. And every time I ask myself, where did all of these things come from. So many toys on the floor and no one plays with them!

I have a friend who lives about 5 hours away. Before kids I did a pretty good job of making an annual visit. About 10 months after I had Kate I made the long drive out there for a kid-free weekend. (She didn't have any children at the time.) When I arrived my friend was thrilled to see me, I'm sure, but she asked why I didn't bring Kate with me. Besides the long car ride I explained I didn't want to pack up all the stuff; the diapers, the baby foods, the multiple outfit changes, the pack and play and the toys. She said to me, "why would you need to bring any more than two toys? You give the kid one toy and when they get bored you give them the other, and when they get bored with that one you go back to the first toy." This gave me a good laugh. And I got another good laugh after she had her first baby and is due relatively soon with her second. Two toys. As if that were at all possible!!

I think the 'stuff' issue is why I love Little House on the Prairie books so much. Life was hard work but yet simple. Don't think for one minute that I'm about to trade in my cell phone for Amish living but at the same time I appreciate the fact that little Laura Ingalls Wilder made an entire afternoon fly by with nothing more than a corncob babydoll and her dog. 

The pace of life is different now days and I'm generally cool with that. I sure as heck don't want to walk 6 miles through snow to trade bear skins for sugar but I wouldn't mind a few more toy sticks and a few less cheap pieces of plastic crap toys.

I guess this is my really long, drawn out way of saying that I love to throw out broken stuff and hide toys when my girls aren't looking. It sounds cruel but my habit makes organized play time that much more fun. Like playing Kate's bakery shop with wooden donuts, felt sugar cut-out cookies, a play kitchen, a cash register, kid table and chairs, and a couple of very willing customers. 

I spy a few more floor toys that haven't moved in several days. I think it may be time to hide them while everyone is tucked away in their rooms. I also have dinner to prep for; individual heart shaped pizzas and chocolate covered strawberries. I think these little girls are going to be excited, if not because of my effort then instead because of the sugar. Happy Valentine's to you!