A day well played

Some days I look around at the disaster zone that is our home and it bothers me. I grump around as I pick up discarded play dresses, scattered Lego pieces, and soggy tea sets. I mumble under my breath about responsibility and order and how I've told them this or that a hundred times before.

Other days I just look at it and sigh. On those days I don't have the energy to deal with it. So I crawl into bed and leave the mess for another day.

But every now and then, I stare at the mess and I smile. No, I haven't finally gone crazy. It's just that sometimes it hits me that this "mess" is a testament to a day well played. It tells the story of my children and who they are right now. I realize in these moments that the mess won't be the same tomorrow. These little ones keep growing and tomorrow they may not be exactly who they were today.

One day the play dresses won't be worn, the Legos will be stored away untouched, and the tea set will be nothing more than a pretty porcelain set on her dresser. One day, much too soon, there won't be a mess of toys scattered about my house, and I think it will make me a little sad to see a perfectly clean floor at night.

So, I smile. Because this mess is a museum exhibit of this time in their young lives. I linger over the little monkey suit, I really look at the Lego castle, and I gently dry the tea set. Then I kiss each of their sweet sleeping heads, tired from a day full of imagined games, and hope that tomorrow is a bit like today, at least for a little while longer.