OK

I am not even sure where to start this post except that I went upstairs to do some more laundry (I spilled Alpha Bits on my white cut-offs.   White cut-offs because I could not find the jean ones in my size in the store Sarah recommended I check out while we were in Tennessee ... and I wanted to look just like her back at home, and Alpha Bits because I spent $5.99 on a light blue delphinium instead of on more food, and the flower got so rained on yesterday that it actually snapped in half and now all I have is a stem, some leaves and some potentially stained cut-offs)

anyway ...

I went upstairs to start the next load so I could hopefully salvage my totally current cut-offs when I stopped to actually look around me.  I was not surrounded by laundry ... I was surrounded by STUFF!  I do not even know who owns all this but it was vomitted all over the floor and all over the sinks and it MUST be Neal's fault because he tucked the boys in last night and HAD to have seen their room, too, but he said nothing!!

If I had the camera at home I would load you with pictures ... but it belongs to Neal's boss, and he kind of uses it during the day for work. (whatever).  Evan clearly is not wearing clean clothes today because he has a big target taped to the dresser drawers, and there are elastics and spongy disk things all over the floor and down the hall and in my bedroom.  His laundry bin (which was going to be THE thing that finally made laundry happen) is full of clothes, but they are usually just the things he didn't feel like putting anywhere else ... except it is on its side on the floor and I don't know what is clean or dirty because they supposedly do their own laundry (I do try to be firm).  His bed looks like it was hit with a low-flying tornado, but I think he slept ok last night.

While I was yaking to Neal on the phone, Evan walked by my room and announced that he has finally found his Abeka math book ... the last time he worked on math was last Tuesday he thinks.  Don't ask me ... I just live here.

Jonam had large, labelled Ziplock bags all over the bathroom floor from his Scouting canoe trip.  He filled the bags with clothes and necessities in case the canoe he was in tipped.  It didn't.  BUT his camping stuff is all over the place and someone is totally going to wipe out on the Ziplocks!  Someone has dragged a comforter into the doorway of their bedroom (they share a room which just makes everything look way more messy ... I think).  Jonam keeps covering himself with Calomine lotion for all the bites he got on the trip, and then whenever we ask him to do something, he yells "argghhhh ... mosquito bites!!!" which is code for something that Neal and I have yet to decipher.

Miscellaneous cups and bowls and spoons even though MY children NEVER eat anywhere but at the kitchen table.

All of Jonam's paints in the corner of his ... wait a second ... those are MY paints that I use to make my altered books ... and he is using them because he is going to be a special effects guy, making good, Christian movies when he grows up, and then he can always have yogurt in his fridge and he can finally be allowed to make that chocolate "toilet" cake that I never want to bake ( cake shaped like a toilet with stuff in the "bowl" part, iced white  ) Oh, yes, and the cheese will never run out and will always be for eating right now.

More clothing behind the door to their room ... cats laying atop the laundry I HAVE managed to get done so far ... I totally have to post pictures later, when Neal gets home because I am sure none of it will be changed from now until then (even though it will be 4 1/2 hours till we see his handsome face).

This all to say that I had a "conversation" with Jonam in the bathroom that questioned how it is that these disasters come to be in our home with such frequency when my well-trained son calmly agreed with me and said "I know, Mom ... we have such a high maintenance house"

Posted by QueenoftheHill

Your sons are perfectly normal! And if not, they are perfectly like my sons and they can all be abnormal together.

I actually resist walking up the stairs in my home and am secretly happy whenever I DO have to go up there and see with some relief that their door is shut. There are just some things I do not wish to know about.

P.S. I made mine scrub their bathroom this weekend because it was truly a bio-hazard. So much so that my skin was crawling when I left the room and I couldn't resist the urge to scrub my feet lest any bacteria might have lept on them as I walked in there. I need to order a haz-mat suit for next time.

Posted by Anonymous

Oh my! That was just fun reading LOL Ya' gotta love those boys!

Shawna
http://thehomeschoolingexperiment.blogspot.com/

Posted by ClagettsFLStyle

I'm in a house with 2 girls. The males in my house consist of my DH and my 2 dogs. So the 'boy' thing I don't totally get.. but this happens with girls too.

I have one who is neat as a pin and one who is total opposite. I started taking allowances away when I walked into rooms that were BEYOND the regular mess. That seemed to help.

Just think though, one day they'll all be married and no messes... we'll miss that right???? LOL

Posted by anotherblogonthefire

In my defence, I would like to say that our high maintenance house required me to concentrate on other things while 'tucking them in'. I can't remember what those things are right now because our high maintenance house has taxed my brain.
And another thing... I didn't even see the bathroom/laundry room until long after the boys went to bed and I was feeding our high maintenance cats.

Posted by SmallWorld

You are utterly hysterical today! I love reading entries like this because I can totally hear your voice and pretend we are sitting in the living room (which I'm pretty sure hasn't been truly vacuumed since you were here SINCE the vacuum cleanerS are broken...still).

Posted by halfpint

it's wonderful to have a glimpse into someone else's home, now I can think of your blog and remember another sister on the battlefront of the wreckage which children leave behind. :) I can't imagine a chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven without milk!

Posted by bestsister

not because of the state of your house, because you know me and have seen my mountain of laundry, which sadly, is my fault not the childrens.

But I am disappointed because of the lack of pictures when Neal got home...maybe his digital camera is high maintenance too. I was just hoping to wake up this morning, see your hurricane residue, and then tackle mine in the kitchen...alas, I will have to use my imagination.

Posted by QueenoftheHill

Did I not indoctrinate you in my latest homeschool tool while at the picnic? I'm sure I used it there; it has grown into a verifiable obsession. You need a Tide Stick. Yes, I'm sure it is loaded with environmentally unsafe ingredients, none of them locally grown (but check out the label on those Alpha-bits!), and will doubtless cause Teflon poisoning, but it will leave your white capris in good-as-new condition after even the worst spills... or ground-in Canadian Oreo crumbs. I carry one in my purse, my diaper bag, and have one hidden in practically every orifice of my home.

So get on the Stick!

(Hmmm... I may have just hit on their next ad campaign!)