About 5 minutes ago, I finally cleared the growing laundry that had been on the floor of our living room for the past 2 days. I was beginning to think that we had invented a new version of the shag carpet. At least, that's what I was going to tell anyone who stopped by.
Pre-child days, I may have thought a person slovenly* who did not pick up their laundry for 2 days. But there's a little wisdom to the thought which says that a house that is too clean is not really lived in and loved.
I plead sledding.
That's right, us stay-at-home mothers occasionally have to peel our hindquarters from the couch and put down our bon bons in order to play with our children.
Morgan and I began the morning with some important (and boring) errand-running. I bribed her with the idea that we would go out and buy her a sled. She was ecstatic. We finally found one at Walmart and for a whole $2.00 and I was able to give Morgan the thrill of her afternoon. (Side note: Nevermind that I also bought her a $9.00 boogie board sled. She didn't want it. There is also wisdom to the idea that children tend to like the simplest pleasures.)
The snow was perfect. Somehow it was both powdery and dense. When I sent her sliding down the hill, I don't think she took a breath, she was giggling that hard. And if you've ever been around a giggling kid, it's kind of contagious.
Two of our neighbors were also on the slope. As I stood talking with the other two adults, Micky and Kathi, I watched the children sledding and my childhood flashed before me. It wasn't that dreadful, pit-in-the-stomach or I'm-so-old sort of remembrance. It was more like a warm gooey feeling, the kind you want to keep basking in. If it weren't for the fact that my tear ducts were already frozen solid, I may have shed a tear.
We were probably outside a half hour or so when Morgan complained of limb paralysis. Something about being cold.
I took her inside, stripped her of her wet clothes and brewed her some hot chocolate. She took a nice long nap.
In fact, the whole house took a rest. I propped up my legs on the couch. The laundry relaxed on the floor. The ice from our boots puddled on our hardwoods.
You can stop by if you like. But watch your step. Sometimes love looks like laziness.
*Slovenly- isn't that a wonderful word? Why don't we use it anymore?
