As I sit here enjoying the silence of my home and my tasty bagel with cream cheese, I look out across my kitchen and living room with a sigh. It is once again cluttered with toys on the floor & tables, blankets strewn across the couch, dishes in the sink while the dishwasher awaits emptying, and an empty milk carton sits smack in the middle of the island. It's easy to get frustrated as a mom with young children when our homes do not look the way we imagined them to be. But this morning, I am choosing to find joy in the clutter instead of frustration. You see, when Nathan and I were pre-kids, we swore we would never have a cluttered house. Our children's toys would stay in their own rooms and they would not invade our adult spaces. Ha! There is so much we didn't know.
I didn't know that the green ball in the middle of the kitchen floor would make me smile as I remember the joy on my toddler's face as he brought it up to me and declared it was pink. I didn't know that the books on the table would not be a point of annoyance but a reminder of the sweetest moments with my son when he carefully selects a book and without a word, backs into my lap to snuggle and read. I didn't know that the disheveled blankets would be because we were crawling through a fort the night before and then after bed, they served to help me snuggle up to my man while we enjoyed some quiet moments just the two of us reminiscing about the day and our wonderful life.
Yes, we give up a lot of personal domain when we welcome children into our families - but we get so much more. So today I choose to find the joy in the clutter - even the dirty dishes which continue to multiply because there are more mouths to feed and to love. We are blessed with clutter and I wouldn't have it any other way.
