Crisis. We are screwed

How many loads of laundry do you do in day?  A week? There are 5 kids here who live like they are in a fashion show- and our washer is broken- it will not be fixed for a week.

I told the kids they could not change their clothes more than once a day and for the love of all that is holy to stop leaving clothes on the floor if they decided that they do not want to wear something. They looked at me like I had three heads.

"what if we get dirty?" they asked.

"then be dirty." I answered

"what if we get wet?" they asked

"then be wet" answered

It is like stuck them in a whole new culture. Or stuck them in the past.  I reminded them that long ago kids did not have drawers and closets full of clothes they had maybe three outfits-- and that was it.  They are acting like I am taking away indoor plumbing--- which I think may be easier for them. 

Cleaning and uncleaning

With 5 kids and a bunch of animals the house gets dirty -- very dirty, fast.

Today I spent hours cleaning, dusting, mopping, straightening, and lots and lots of laundry.

In the end I was really happy. My house was clean!

Then the kids came in. In minutes... no seconds.... they managed to unclean a lot of what I did today. There were crumbs everywhere! More LAUNDRY! A full sink of dishes! How did this happen?

My mother can keep the house clean effortlessly (at least it seems effortless). I am very jealous of her skills in this area- maybe I'll get better with time. 

I firmly believe that if something takes an hour to clean it should take more than 2 seconds to unclean- that needs to be a rule somewhere. 

All I can do is laugh.  If I wanted a clean house having 5 kids and a lot of animals is not a good idea- its a good thing my mess tolerance is pretty high.