Piles

As I walk around my apartment (well, trip more than walk, would be a better description maybe) I notice how my daily life appears to be summed up in big piles everywhere.  Laundry piles, dish piles, toy piles, pillow piles, paperwork piles, and so on.  PILES.

These piles are everywhere, seemingly spring up out of nowhere, and I swear they are multiplying by the minute.  HOW does this happen?!

Between school work, toddler chasing, dinner making, and doing my utmost to sustain my sanity with the occasional coffee "break" (is it really a break if you reheat the same cup eighteen times?) I feel like I'm dodging mountains and creating mole hills everywhere I turn.

Ya feel me on this?  Are we all caving ourselves in with these clutter volcanoes or is it just me???

There are often days where I feel like motherhood is two steps forward and twenty steps back.  I'll capture a moment of my daughters hugging and I'll say a prayer of thanks for getting a glimpse of heaven here on earth.

The next minute, I'm pulling my hair out as they topple over stacks of just-neatly-folded laundry onto a crumb-ridden floor.  And then they hit each other.  And then they're crying.  And then they hit their heads as they run toward me.

And so, I shove everything out of the way into one giant pile and attend to their screaming.  Siiiiiiigh.

But, maybe, through the tears and the confusion, it's ME who is making mountains out of the crumby-laundry-mole hill...and not my crazy kids.  Maybe it's worth all the mess to stop and see that hug, to be the one they run to when they cry, and to side-step those mines of chaos that truly clutter up our minds more than our homes.

Sure, there's times when I need to ask for help and clean up those piles.  Organization and cleanliness can feel great and help us all sustain necessary order.  BUT...in the meantime...as the dishes and toys pile up, I need to take a deep breath and let myself off the hook.  I need to just hug my kids and keep focused on the path between the piles.  That's the journey that really matters.

After all, that pile isn't going anywhere.