Kitty Litter and Ah-Ha Moments

Having learned very little about home management as a child, I have always struggled to keep up with chores. Spending several hours each week taking kids to medical and therapy appointments, as well as striving to teach kids in five different grades, plus Kindergarden and preschool, has challenged my weak domestic skills even further. This has reality has left in its wake many unfinished projects and a increasingly messy house.

Increasingly irritated with my children, I began to wonder why they didn't seem to care about the clutter and chaos that seemed to be taking over our home?! Didn't they see the things laying around, the dishes by the couch in the basement, the laundry overflowing the hamper in the hallway?!

Then, sweeping up yet another mess of kitty litter (thanks to my not-quite-two-year old son), the light bulb went on; my kids DIDN'T see the mess!! They didn't notice the irritating and annoying things I noticed, because they are so used to seeing things that way! Ahhh!!! This is all my fault!

The remedy, I've decided, is not to become Super Woman and leap tall piles of laundry in a single bound, nor will my problems be solved by twitching my nose or pulling special tools out of a magic carpet bag or snapping fingers at toys scattered all over the toy room.

The remedy is much less glamorous than all that. I simply have to set a different standard. Yes, it will be difficult, given my a fore mentioned handicaps and current limitations. But, by changing my attitude and expectations (that word, again...), I can change the standard. Simply by recognizing that I've set a standard I don't like, I have the power to change it! It will not be easy, change will not happen overnight. But I am excited about the possibilities! Or at least right now. As soon as I