Leaves

I opened my door this morning to let my dog out and I saw the greatest thing, leaves on my back porch, yes leaves. I have been a home owner for just over 10 years and this is my third house in those 10 years and I finally have leaves to clean up. I know, in a couple of weeks I will be cursing those leaves, but today I am celebrating them. I'm celebrating because that means I have a tree. In my past two homes I had to plant trees in the bare backyard and they never grew large enough to be considered an actual tree. To me they looked like twigs supported by ropes and steaks in the ground. But now, I have a tree, a big, climbable, leaf falling tree. I have leaves to clean up.

After thinking about cleaning those leaves I thought about all the messes the kids make throughout the day that I dread cleaning up when really I should be celebrating the messes. It's exhausting to follow the kids around all day cleaning up after all the little things they do. To be completely honest, I often avoid doing activities because I know there's going to be a mess to clean up after they're done, such as painting. My kids LOVE to paint, but there's always a mess. I need to change my outlook and celebrate the fact that I have budding artists who LOVE to paint and make messes. Now granted, their finished products are far from Monets, but it's about the process not the product. I think today is the day Hannah learns the joys of finger painting and an art smock.