Blessed by the mess.

So here I am.

Having a lovely conversation with a dear friend over a cup of coffee.

Our kids are quietly playing in their room.

Not so quiet as to cause concern but not so loud as to prepare me for what I was about to see.

Friend and I were discussing issues of faith and parenthood, questioning our purpose and finding our place in God's plan. I have to admit that I've been in a bit of a funk lately. I'm not sure how else to describe it. I feel like something is about to happen but hasn't happened yet. I feel like I want to start getting ready for it but I don't really know what it is. I was wishing that God would show me the road map or give me something to do in the meantime. While we were engrossed in this discussion, my children were doing this:








Oh yes they did! They were calmly and quietly emptying the contents of their room into little buckets and dumping them in the nursery. Notice that I said this was my children. Our lovely friends were quietly playing Polly pockets on the train table.


Question solved. It wasn't exactly the task I was looking for but when life gives you lemons...


After our guests left (no sense in stopping a great playdate), I got out some buckets, spread out the mess and directed the kids to start sorting and filling. Levi was to collect the potato head's and play food. Ruby the clothing, socks, swim suits and underwear-yes they even emptied the shelves/drawers from thier closet. I was getting the books and cars and music stuff. Finn was just supposed to look cute and not eat the minuscule bits and pieces of Ruby's play sets.

Seriously can we talk about this for a second? What is it with these things? I'm not sure if anyone out there has any pull in the toy industry but can somebody please do something about the million piece play sets that are marketed to little girls? Most of them I are even too small to see let alone play with.

They are so small that they are usually unnoticed until we hear the chunk-clink-clink as they are hurled into the canister of the vacuum. At which point tears are shed over such a loved item. Thus causing me to rifle through the filth and find the neglected treasure. In case you have all boys or no idea what I am talking about here is a visual:


I included a dime, you know the original choking hazard, in the picture so you could have a reference for how small these items really are. I love the reality of these sets.

Please notice the tiny hypodermic needles, they came with a mini vet set and are half the size of the doll's arm. How is a doll supposed to administer a shot when the needle is the same size as her arm? I am also in awe of the tiny tea cups. I love that they have handles. As if you could actually use them! You would need to use a tweezers just to hold them up for your tiny dolly to take a sip! Of course all of this logic is lost on my child. She love the stuff. The smaller the better.

Now back to the pile. I'm feeling as though the original picture did not accurately convey the height of the pile. As we began to sort through it, it became to look something like this:


The plus side is that I had been meaning to sort through the toys in their room but was overwhelmed at the thought of starting. I could have been mad. I could have been embarrassed that they did this with company. I could have lost my cool. Or I could just go with it.

This was just the push I needed. I may not have the road map for life I was hoping for but at least I have something to distract me for a couple of days. And the kids room will be organized just in time to make room for new Christmas additions! I'll consider this an unexpected answer to prayer.