Mission: Impossible

Good morning, folks.

It's Wednesday and it feels like the last few days have flown by. I've been trying to keep an eye on overly hyper kiddos while picking up around the house and doing laundry in preparation of hubby's parents coming for a quick visit.

The problem has been those previously mentioned kids.

They do not appreciate the concept of clean. I pick up, they find a new way to make a mess in the same spot. I swear I've cleaned the same four foot area of our living room 15 times in the past two days.

Now, most people would say, "Duh! Just keep them out of that area."

But the problem is that I've tried. I sent them outside while I worked. I came back out to the yard with holes dug all around the trampoline.

Hubby was not happy.

I put them in their room. Came back to check on them and they had drawn all over each other and their t-shirts with magic markers.

Mommy was not happy.

Sat them in front of the TV to watch a movie (which is also the "area" I've so desperately been trying to clean up). They dirtied faster than I could clean.

How . . . you might ask.

In ways I never really thought about before.

Snacks are an obvious problem.

But I was picking up clothes that had been discarded on their way through the living room to the bathroom for their baths the night before. They ran, shorts wiggled off legs, shirts flew into the air, socks, underwear, and everything landed in a trail from the back door to the bathroom.

I got everything to the laundry room and came back to the living room where the twins were supposed to be sitting quietly watching a movie.

And they were . . . buck-naked.

All their clothes scattered . . . again . . . all over the living room floor.

After twenty minutes of threats and hair-pulling (mine, not theirs, although I probably should have tried that) I got them back into their clothes.

Went to start a load of laundry.

Returned.

The twins are in the play-yard with their sister and everyone is having a marvelous time throwing toys out onto the floor.

This has gone on for two days. Perfectly reasonable choices for snacks have been crushed to dust on the hardwood floors. Toys that I put away in the toy box mysteriously reappearing within a few minutes. Sending them outside only to have a trail of mud through my kitchen, to the cabinet for a glass, to the fridge for a drink, and back out the door again.

So I want it stated for the record that I really have TRIED to clean the house. It may not be a sparkling example from Good Housekeeping, but I have fought a long, hard battle. But I am outnumbered, 3 to 1, and the odds are against me getting everything finished before my in-laws arrive.

But having raised 4 boys, including a set of twins, I think my mother-in-law has a pretty good understanding of the challenges I face. She probably even has a few pointers for keeping the kids out of trouble while I get work done.

Like . . . wait until their first day of college before you attempt to keep your house clean.

Have a great week.

Later.