From "lived-in" to chaos and back again

Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our minds. ~George Santayana

A week and a half ago my home looked "lived in".  You know, slightly cluttered with stuff but generally clean.  Okay, maybe it was worse than that.  But it now looks like a tornado went through a few of the rooms.  Mainly the rooms that I use the most.  I've had kids home on summer vacation and they have spent more time in those rooms than they do during the school year, but it's certainly not their fault.  It's mine.  I'm going to place the blame on the weather and the good books I've gotten from the library lately.

Housework is not something I enjoy doing.  Neither my husband nor children enjoy housework either.  I like it when my house is tidy, I just don't want to be the one to do it. 

Maybe once the weather turns I will once again return to getting my jobs done.  Until then, my flat surfaces will continue to be used as places to leave little notes.  My laundry piles will continue to be used as climbing walls.  My refrigerator will continue to harbor various displays on the nature of decomposition.  The ant farm will continue to harvest the bounty found on my kitchen floor.  The path from one room to another will continue to be a lesson in critical thinking and strategy development.

My children have been feeling the results of my lack of desire to do things myself.  This means that they have gotten to do more chores this summer than usual.  Some days they accomplish much with very little prodding, other days they finish nothing while hearing much from their nagging, harping, hollering mother.  I suppose this is why they've requested to spend nights and days elsewhere.    I've also gotten to spend some time with other peoples' children in my house.  I let them do things like empty and load the dishwasher.  I'm sure they love me for making them feel like part of the family.

There is only a little more than a month left of summer.  Is my house going to be neat and tidy before summer ends?  No.  Will it ever be neat and tidy?  Maybe.  Someday.  In the far distant future. 

Until then, I've got a couple good books lined up on my buffet table.  Once I finish this posting, I'll pour myself a big glass of lemonade, grab my book, and head out to my lawn chair.  Hooray for summer! 

Perhaps I'll surface from the chaos of my household sometime in October.

My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint. ~Erma Bombeck