Reformation

As a self proclaimed slacker extraordinaire, I find myself in the unusual position of feeling the need to own up to my responsibilities. It's not a good feeling either.

I got a good look at the wreck that is our house this morning. Sure, I keep the areas where we live and breathe at a tolerable level. Dishes get washed. Garbage gets taken out. Laundry gets washed, if not folded. Bedsheets get changed and the bathrooms are wiped down regularly. If I find out that company is coming, in a matter of about an hour, I can have the visible part of the house looking pretty good.
But a sequence got started this morning and I have no idea where it will end. It began when I needed to go in the bonus room (an unfinished room above the garage) for some fabric to use in a flowerbed. That led to the discovery that something has taken up residence there. *cue ominous music and a feeling of sinking dread* Which means I'll need to move the things that are stored there to the basement. But first, a space in the basement has to be cleared out. Which also caused the discovery that the girls have not been cleaning the playroom like I was being led to believe. Some of the stuff in the basement needs to go out to the garage, which barely has room for the cars in it.
While I was in the basement, I saw the enourmous pile of games and projects that I should be spending time doing with the girls too. So not only do I have the guilt of not managing my household as well as I had deceived myself into believing that I was doing, but I also have the guilt of not spending as much time with my kids as I need to be.

Obviously some changes need to be made and I don't even have a solid game plan at this point. I have already packed away all of the stamp carving and artist trading card supplies. I have also set up Atlas Quest to send mail to my email account. Until some of these other things are under control, I am going to have to swear off letterboxing. And that is going to be one of the hardest things of all.
And I probably won't be blogging too much in the next couple of weeks. But hopefully when I return, I'll have pictures of a sparkly new house, happy children, beautiful flowerbeds, and maybe a dead varmint or two. OK, so maybe no pictures of the varmints.

Wish me luck.

If I could hire three people...

...one of them would spend the day following J & M around answering all of their myriads of questions. Another would be responsible for picking up, washing, drying, folding, and putting away the laundry (you know that job can keep a person busy for 8 hours a day!). The last I would keep in reserve for all of those tasks that seem to pop up out of nowhere and create lots of stress in life. Forgot that your child needs birthday treats for Awana? More library books have come in, even though you've already been three times this week? Your sister calls with a plea for an emergency babysitter? Don't worry, have the Reserve Help do it!!

On second thought, if it was someone else's job to answer my children, I would miss all of the really interesting questions. "How fast does a Beta fish's heart beat?", "Why do they always make the words in books black and not other colors?, "What does 'abrasion' mean?", "What shape is an antibody?", "What is the biggest number?", "If a polygon had one hundred sides, what would it be called?", "What does 'obliged' mean?" And on, and on, and on. And on. But maybe I should keep that job myself.
And if I had someone else to fall back on when I drop the ball or life happens, then I would have one less chance to rely on my Heavenly Father for grace and strength and the ability to come up with creative solutions. And I wouldn't be able to use those opportunities to teach my girls the life and character lessons that they contain or show them that it's alright to make mistakes and say you're sorry. So maybe I should keep that job also.

I'd still hire someone for the laundry though.

*originally posted on 2/21/2006