A Little Story about my Kitchen

Last Friday afternoon, before the kids got off the bus and before Chris got home from work, I really cleaned my kitchen. The half million pieces of paper that had come home from school during the week had been sorted and filed, as had the quarter million pieces of mail. The counters and table had been thoroughly wiped down, and the floor was swept.

It is perhaps important to note that I don't do this thorough of a 'cleaning' all that often, mainly because our next meal (a.k.a. mess maker) is usually just a few short hours away. Generally speaking, the wipe down mentioned above happens once a day at most. Please don't call child protective services. I'm building immunity in my kids. It will serve them well, we live in a dirty world.

But, the weekend was on its way, and I knew I'd feel good if I got it done. And I did. Fast forward to Sunday. The kitchen was a complete wreck. Normally this wouldn't phase me. It is messy more often than it is clean. However, the Sunday mess got to me, and I'll tell you why. WE HADN'T HAD A SINGLE MEAL IN THE KITCHEN. Friday night was the school carnival, so we ate there. After said carnival, Jerod and Elise went to spend the night with my parents so Chris and I could go for a long training run early Saturday morning. Saturday we had lunch with my folks when we picked up the kids, and dinner at the house of some of our friends. And, on Sunday we had breakfast at church, as it was the annual youth fundraising breakfast. Said breakfast was HUGE, so we skipped lunch. Yet, the kitchen was filled with backpacks, drinking glasses, and more paper (Anyone who thinks we're moving to a paperless society should visit my kitchen).