Ring-Around-the-Rosy and Helter-Skelter Messes

I am happy to report that this week was much better than last week. All of our kids are feeling much better and have been kind enough to pass a little of everything they had on to Mommy and Daddy. Someday we too will recover.

Joshua continues to assert himself more and more and is becoming quite a character. He is learning sign language really fast and his constant joy and delight in life is Ring-Around-the-Rosy. He will play for as long as he can find a willing partner or two and the look on his face just says, "I didn't know it could be this good!"

Sometime in the middle of our crazy life last week, I remembered that I once promised the state of Arizona that I would homeschool my daughter, so we made a valiant effort to get back on that train. Fortunately, Grace is pretty good at keeping herself entertained anyway. The other day she found a role of duct tape that had been left out and spent the entire afternoon creating things with it, including an assortment of tableware, a soup pot complete with ladle, a sword, a hat, and a variety of other things. Creative, but it probably doesn't qualify as appropriate kindergarten curriculum.


Speaking of the future success of my children, I heard about a new study that kind of disturbed me, especially in the current state of things around here. The study found that the more organized a home children grow up in, the more likely they are to be successful and get higher education.

As if mothers didn't already have enough to feel guilty about. Now, when the madness of my messy house overwhelms me, I have the thought that my children may end up on Welfare to add to my despair!

Okay, it's not that bad around here - usually. I console myself with the thought that we're still in transition and there are more important things to focus on right now than a clean house. Still, you know it's bad when your four-year-old finds you and says, "Mommy, I need help cleaning my woom because it's a tewibble helter-skelter mess!"