Good nights and interesting nights.  Last night was interesting.  Today we are all tired, and so on emotional ragged edges.

I get up and in the quiet breakfast moments while baby is still sleeping and kids are eating, I have a great idea to post here.

THEN while 'puter is open I skype my mom, clear my inbox, check the calendar.  Baby is awake and so begins the diaper-nurse-nurse-diaper-play/sleep pattern.

Someone bigger has a fit 'cause her cardboard project isn't working out exactly that way she wanted.

Then the beds need to be made prompting a fit from the smaller one.

Like I said, the raggedy emotional edges this morning from sleep lacking in the past few long summer days, topped off by last night's severe storm warning and baby brother fuss-fuss-fussing nigh on 2 hours.

It'll be an interesting day....and whatever creative inspiration I had, flitted out the window with the daily operation.  *BIG sigh*

So it goes. All is well when I remember....

A Good Day

Morning, of blueberry muffins, decaf & juice.
Making a lazy summer day. Some sewing, some weeding, little sweeping, praying and talking.
Littles' creative juices flowing.

Lunch and bit of laundry.

More creativity and a Substantial Mess.

"I only take kids to gymnastics that pick up after themselves."
Leading to "pick up everything you want to keep in the next 45 minutes".
Dinner is ready and on the table "for the next 25 minutes."

Oh the lament and tragedy.  I felt really sad to pick up all the stuff they'd worked so diligently on, and their new owl backpacks just received this weekend.  Empathy in full effect.  I felt kinda mean, but knew I had to follow through with my word.  There were tears and hugs for The Second Born, and flashes of quasi-half-hearted anger from The Eldest....
Eventually when it all calmed down, and tummies were filled, we migrated to the patio where a spontaneous stage show was happening courtesy Miss Monkey and slapstick comedienne Monk-a-doodle.

Papa comes home, there's wrastlin' and tag, giggles and squeals galore, winding slowly down to
bed.

All is well.  Life is good, ALL the time.

I love the way he loves our kids

Sweep Training

Just because I do things a certain way doesn't mean others should do it that way as well.

That said, in my house I have become accustom to house work done in a most efficient manner, and such that it's become an art, my only issue is the timing.  I can even say I enjoy it in The Flow of the household as I've surrendered to the Reality that it never, never, ever, ends.  I care about it enough that I want it done well, and in a timely manner.  There's no guarantee that children will pick up on my methods, and The Eldest needed some broom training today.  

There are certain things that really need to be taught outright, "This way. This is how I do this.  This is why...."  Eventually, one might come up with a more reliable, even more efficient means of getting the job done, but for now, this is how it's done.  When I was a kid I think I was expected to simply know, gleaning the knowledge from the environment.  Developmentally reasonable expectations weren't considered, I learned quickly never to say, "I don't know" and even more so I learned never to be wrong.  It was too risky.

According to Miss Monkey, she had to sweep 3, THREE, times today!  OMG.  But really she swept 1 and one half times by my calculation.  These beautiful floors are easy to clean; however, with random construction/home improvements occurring and children about, it's impossible that they remain clean for more than a few hours at most---and that's with the proper daily/weekly timing.  There's a method to the floors; stay behind the broom (as in front of the mop), start on one side/corner moving to the other side/corner (like painting), wipe one's feet often on the broom to avoid tracking wayward dust, leave the dust pan in an accessible place to avoid trekking through dirt piles, sweep from one side of the house to t'other & top to bottom, preferably all fans are off & no wind sends dust bunnies fleeing.  That the gist of it.  Imparting that to the willful seven year old, eh, challenging.  Once upon a time, The Man remarked that I "sweep like a goddess", and imparting this to her got more than a passing interest.

I won't start with the laundry methods until she's really truly interested in helping.  Maybe we'll start with Baby laundry, she's such a baby hawk of late it's sometimes hard to keep her in check.

My super power

Besides super hearing, eyes in the back of my head, and ubermama-6th sense...I make milk.  Mega-milk too, since Baby Boy gained average 2 oz. a day since birth. Feelin' pretty superpowered. : )