Bumper Sticker Taglines

I decided this morning that if I could create a bumper sticker this is what it would say...

"I'm Not Lazy I Just Have Kids"

I wish I were artsy and knew how to create a cool little button for ya'll to add to your Pinterest pages, but I'm not...So if you're artsy and know how to create buttons and Pinterest postables, I give you permission to use my tagline and create away. Just send it over this way so I can use it too! 

This was the best I could come up with in the meantime...

I would take that bumper sticker and place it strategically on my car so that when I drop my children off at preschool, or when we are unloading ourselves in the parking lot at Target and a stranger happens to walk by and witness an odd assortment of unmatching shoes, several old plastic bags, a sippy cup, crushed goldfish, a backpack and a purse,  also falling out of the backseat with my children...they will not be tempted to think...

Geez lady...you should clean your car once in a while. 

I would also place it on my front door, near the doorbell. This way when the UPS guy shows up at our house (like he often does because Scott has a lot of work stuff shipped here since he works from a home office on many days), he won't be able to stare wide-eyed behind me at the blankets, odd balls, shoes, tools from overdue construction projects, dirty floor mats and unfinished flooring laying right near the front door and think...

Geez lady...think you should clean your house? 

I would also place one on Ava's backpack. This way when her teacher happens to see her with it and help her put her papers and folders in, but finds one odd sock, a headband, an old juice cup, and my checkbook in the bottom, she might be less tempted to think...

Geez mom...think you should clean this out?

Heck...I'm just going to slap those bad boys all over my kitchen floor, bathroom mirror, all entry ways to the house and on several random walls in conspicuous places. This way when a neighbor unexpectedly arrives and sees dishes towering in the sink, clutter covering every conceivable kitchen surface, random books, toy parts, DVD's and ribbon scattered across the floor, and unidentifiable sticky, gooey ick on the floor near the table... they won't be as tempted to think..

Wow...aren't you home all day...why do you DO?! Maybe you should clean your house. 

Of course I'm just having some fun here, but it dawned on me today, because my children are away for four days (they're with their grandmother in Ohio),that  as I cleaned the living room and knew it would stay cleaned, as I wiped the bathroom counter tops and realized it might be the only time I'd have to do it all week, as I picked up the odd shoes from around the first floor of the house and placed them back in the mudroom...that I'm not the lazy, completely disorganized mother I often create myself out to be in my own head...

We do clean, it simple gets undone. We do like to organize, there simply is no time. We do wipe the counters they simply get pawed, and wiped and toothpaste dirty again within 18 hours. I do prefer Ava's backpack to be organized, it's just that by the time we get home and need to unload everything out of the car I also have hungry children, grocery bags and mail in my arms...the excess needs to get dumped somewhere, right? 

So, today, in my quiet and still house I'm relishing in the knowledge that A) I'm not lazy, B) I'm as tired and scattered as I am because I am always moving and grooving and making quick decisions because that is what the day requires of me C) This is all a season...and with every season things change...Next year it will be crayons and glue sticks and art projects from school that scatter the house and demand organizing prowess on my part! D)Your brain does start to come back into your head (slowly!) when you have a day to think, clean and process...

Scott and I are counting our blessings for the sweet princesses that we miss, for the loving family members that love our girls as much as we do and who take opportunities to love on them for days at a time, and for the grace and space that it allows us to catch up, breathe deep and realize we haven't gone completely crazy after all.

...and, perhaps most importantly, that we still enjoy spending time together in the midst of it all!