cleaning & leaves & life coach

is a clean  house overrated? 

no. i don't think so. b/c as i'm typing this my shirt is sticking to the computer desk...from grape gunk that amelia smeared all over the desk while sitting with me this morning. i eat my breakfast at the computer desk, checking emails & maybe some news if i'm lucky. so for the past 2 months amelia has parked herself on my lap during this time. which is probably why i hardly get to check blogs anymore.

so back to this clean house situation. we cleaned our house (okay, at least the first floor) last week for this shower. wiping baseboards, washing windows, getting rid of a slightly scary & cool spider web on the window...we've been watching it go from a tiny little web to this huge thing that nearly took over our entire window. after i swept the web away there were a few large & tiny spiders in the house. they were promptly killed (not afraid of spiders, but these things are spooky looking).

so now i think to myself: we just have to keep up with it, the cleaning. & then i might actually think this house isn't so bad after all. but it's impossible! if i clean the bathroom, 10 minutes (or an hour maybe) later, pee is on the floor, running down the front of the toilet. or poop is all over the seat. or soap has been smeared all over the sink. or there is some unknown black substance on the trim--at the height of a millie-monster.

if we happen to mop, for sure that day someone will spill their cup of apple juice or an entire jar of pizza sauce will fall out of someone named wes' hands, shattering & splattering.

if we vacuum, for sure that means the girls will find their scissors & cut all sorts of paper into these tiny, itty bitty pieces. perfect size for the nannied baby boy to pick up & eat.

you get the picture. i love a clean house, don't get me wrong. but it's too much work! overrated.

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addy 2010 school picture. cute, eh?

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after the leaf-picker-upper-truck went by our house we finally decided it's time to start raking our leaves (for the the truck's next trip--or for them to blow over to our neighbor's house. oops). but this year we have a new helper! addy *loves* to rake. which is good b/c i also love to rake but absolutely can not do that...i raked a tiny little pile for the girls to jump in the other day & an hour later felt like my limps were being ripped off.

somehow the sled is pulled out of the garage. i really do think adeline enjoys pulling amelia around. & amelia loves being pulled around. or maybe that's a smirk on her face?

& here's my happy grape-gunk spreader this morning.

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so addy keeps asking me: what do you want to be when you grow up? i keep telling her "i am ALREADY grown up. i went to college to be a social worker & worked for awhile before you were born. now i'm working at home"...how to explain to a 4 year old being a stay at home parent? she totally doesn't see this as being a job...it's like i'm talking to a super duper feminist *smile*. every thing i say, like "well, i make sure you are safe, that you have something to do, that you have food, that the house is sorta clean, etc etc etc" & she answers "but what JOB is that, mommy? what will you do when you grow up?!"

so i typically turn the tables on her & put the attention on her. what will you do when you grow up, adeline? her answers range from doctor to batman to police man to librarian...

is it possible for a 4 year old to be a super duper feminist already?

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but her last occupation choice is totally out of the realm of possibilities (librarian). yesterday i was rocking amelia in the chair, after she had woken up sobbing from her nap. i was trying to get her back to sleep. then addy joined us, pulling a pillow & a blanket up for herself. last week, i rocked both of them to sleep then woke them up unintentionally b/c i was trying to sneak out to pee...anyway, addy was not tired this time...she would look at me with these pleading eyes as i put my finger up to my lips & very softly said SHHHHHH. i would then mouth the words: do not talk. (it's kinda amazing, but i do think that addy can sorta read lips...which makes me think that maybe she does have a hearing problem. i can mouth all sorts of words & she knows what i'm saying. is this normal? after all, she has failed--mostly b/c of noncompliance--her hearing tests). 

anyway. it took EVERYTHING in her not to talk. she would open her mouth & then look at me with apologetic eyes & whisper something like "the other day i saw something" but i wouldn't let her finish, putting my finger over her mouth (b/c amelia was back asleep). this happened constantly, she just could NOT stop herself from talking. she has so much to say about everything.

amelia is a talker, but mostly with me. i think when she warms up to people she talks more around them. even with wes she doesn't talk as much as she does with me...which isn't saying much. it's not like i talk constantly. 

well, that's it for now. but i do have to say that i have yet to offer myself up to the new food bank at our church (it just opened a few miles from our house, for the north side of columbus. the other food bank is near downtown)...but i don't know if that's me wanting to get back into a sector of social work or just wanting to get out of the house. or both? but they do encourage bringing kids...so maybe addy could talk their ear off & i could just sit there!